


Daughter Of A Doctor

by summerbaytroubles



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Angst, Dark Past, Drama, F/M, Family Drama, Hospitals, House M.D. References, Romance, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 71,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26801434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerbaytroubles/pseuds/summerbaytroubles
Summary: Gregory House isn't one for emotion - clearly. So when a 25 year old Talia appears on his doorstep claiming that she's his daughter and that she needs a place to stay, he doesn't really know HOW to feel. Why should he? Things get even more complicated as she follows him to work everyday to shadow him, and quickly finds herself falling for Dr Chase as her dark past begins to creep up on her. (THIS IS A REWRITE OF MY 2014 FANFIC 'Daughter Of A Doctor' from fan fiction.net. If you've seen the character of Talia House before, that's why! Hi! It's me!)*this rewrite is also being posted on fanfiction.net under the same handle...yes, that's also me!*
Relationships: Robert Chase/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 28





	1. "knock knock!" "who's there?"

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter rewrite of my old fanfic ‘Daughter Of A Doctor’, which I wrote SIX YEARS AGO. I was 17 at the time, I’m now 23. I'm trying to stick to the story without completely cringing.  
> I may struggle slightly.  
> But here we go.

Talia took a deep breath before knocking on the wooden door with one hand whilst fiddling with a piece of paper in her left. She waited a few moments, but there was seemingly no response and she was already getting agitated. So she lifted her knuckle to rap on the door once more, a little harsher this time. But much to her relief, the door cracked open, revealing a miserable looking Gregory House. He looked her up and down briefly. “I don't want any cookies," he muttered, about to close the door again.

"I'm...I'm not here for cookies," Talia rushed out, awkwardly shuffling from foot to foot. House raised a slightly amused brow.

"So...I don't need home and/or car insurance," he smiled falsely before shutting the door successfully. Talia sighed to herself and simply knocked it again - her mum had pre-warned her that her dad would be this way, and that she had to be patient. And by ‘this way’, she meant difficult and irritable.

House opened the door with a sigh.

“Oh, look at that - it's you again," he muttered sarcastically.

“Wait, don’t close the door again! C-can I talk to you for a second? My name’s Talia House," Talia began shakily, trying to keep herself together so that she didn’t crumble under his stern gaze. House blinked at her a few times.

“Well. _Thank you_ for the introduction, pleased to meet your acquaintance - bye now," he waved, ready to close the door on her again.

"I'm your daughter," Talia snapped before he could dare. House's face contorted into one of disgust, then disbelief and then neutral.

"Hmph. Come on in," he yawned, stepping to the side so that she could enter. Talia wasn't too sure if he was being serious at this point - he threw her off. " _Or_ you could actually stay out there, makes no difference to me.” Talia swallowed and entered the apartment, dragging her suitcase in behind her. House shut the door behind her and limped over to stand opposite where she stood, before rummaging in a drawer nearby. He took out a little plastic tube and unscrewed the cap. "Say _'ah'_ ," he instructed.

"Wh-" House automatically stuck a swab in her mouth and popped it back into the tube before she could get the words out.

"DNA test. Nothing personal, just wanted to check that Miranda didn't just send you here to get back at me for…whatever I may or may not have done to her. She’s bonkers,” House murmured, placing the tube to the side. “I remember one time-”

"Wait, you honestly don't seem that _bothered_ ," Talia interrupted him quickly. "Your daughter who you've never met before just turned up on your doorstep and you're not... _shocked?_ "

“Shocked? Well, I have to admit it is kinda out of the blue, but I'm clearly due for another med dose and the pain’s coming back so, so the shock will hit me later,” House waved her off.

“Right,” Talia frowned, not completely believing him. House threw his head back as if the next few words were nothing more than a chore to him.

“Look. Miranda Delmario was a sneaky little b-"

"Yeah, we get it," Talia interrupted, raising her hand.

"-and I'm not surprised that she kept you as her little secret," House finished, hobbling away toward the kitchen and getting out another tube of pills. “We certainly slept together. It was around 23 or 24 years back…and how old are you, sorry?”

“25.”

“There we go. Also possible. So _ya_ , your existence is _entirely_ plausible. I can’t deny that - as much as I’d prefer to do so.” Talia raised an eyebrow and gave a slow nod of understanding.

“I see. That's...uh..."

"So what happened?" House asked briskly, now interrupting her instead.

"What happened with _what?_ " Talia frowned as she shuffled awkwardly from side to side, her legs beginning to ache a little.

"Sit down," House told her casually, chucking back a few pills and popping the cap back on. Talia gulped and settled herself down on the nearest sofa, pressing her knees together and tapping her legs awkwardly. “So, again I ask - what happened? Why are you here?"

“Oh. I had an argument with my mum...she called me a ‘useless failed abortion' in the middle of an argument because she’s a shallow bitch. It all happened because I told her that I didn't want to be a model like she was, and I wanted to be a doctor because I worked hard to get there. You know, one of the youngest to qualify in the UK and all that. She told me if I loved medicine so much I should go and find it…I soon found out that she meant _you_ ," Talia shrugged simply, staring into her dad's steely blue eyes. House nodded slowly, wincing a little.

“I’m sorry, I’m still stuck on ‘useless failed abortion.’ Talk about _ouch_. Let me guess, she was _drunk?_ "

"She may or may not have been, I don't actually care. I’ve barely seen her sober. She's been like that for 25 years, mind,” Talia grumbled. "And you were….where, sorry?”

“Unaware of your existence of course, where else?” House mocked with a roll his eyes as he hobbled toward the fridge. Talia raised an unamused eyebrow as House took out a bottle of water. “D’ya want one?"

"I-"

"Kitchen's that way," House nodded toward the fridge. Talia bit down on her jaw as hard as she could and forced a smile, whilst House studied her properly. She was pretty, very pretty. She had a delicate face with dark grey eyes that held strange blue specks in them, and her hair was down to her waist, dark blonde give or take a few highlights, and slightly curly. She was wearing a black top and skinny black jeans with a black jacket and thigh high boots. What _really_ topped it off was the small Barbie suitcase beside her. Above all, she just looked fed up and exhausted.

"So you're here to…live with me?" House guessed.

"Yeah, if that's okay. Only until I-”

“Well it’s not okay. In fact it’s highly inconvenient in almost every way possible," House responded hotly.

"Thought as much," was Talia’s bitter response.

"And until the DNA results come back proving who the hell you _are_ I technically have no moral responsibility over you, so..." That’s when House saw Talia's eyes slowly well up with tears and his hard-man act began to crack. Something about her face made him feel so irritatingly sorry for her that he had to do _something_. "Fine, gimme Miranda's number and we'll sort something out." Talia gasped and quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, dialling her mother's number within the space of a few seconds, putting it on speakerphone. They waited. The phone continued ringing. They carried on waiting. The phone carried on ringing - then it went to answer machine.

“Hang up,” House instructed her.

"You're not gonna leave a message?" Talia frowned in confusion.

"No," House muttered. "Until she calls back...you might as well stay...I guess. But I've gotta go to work so-"

"Oh...can I come?" Talia suddenly popped up, suddenly standing up with an excited grin. House raised a sceptical eyebrow.

“Sure...just don’t…touch anything,“ he said slowly. He blinked at her a few more times, still baffled by the genuine eagerness in her eyes. ”You're weird, kid.” Talia smirked and shrugged.

"Well thanks. Don't forget those swabs...Da-"

"NO," House interrupted her quickly. "Not Dad. House will do."

"Oh," Talia nodded briskly. "Of course.”


	2. Pilot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter rewrite of my old fanfic 'Daughter Of A Doctor', which I wrote SIX YEARS AGO. I've had an influx of messages recently asking me to continue and frankly…I couldn't bring myself to do it if I didn't rewrite it first!
> 
> So if you come across this story and one chapter is great and the next is...not...then please know it's because I'm rewriting each chapter a bit at a time. Please bear with me x

"If anyone asks," House muttered as they stepped into the hospital, "you're a family member visiting on vacation.” Talia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, keeping her head down and avoiding eye contact from all the patients and doctors milling around.

“Wow. You _really_ don't want people to know that you have a kid, do you?" she frowned, following him from the elevator.

“No, I don’t want people _speculating_ that I have one without any form of solid proof to back it up. Gossip tends to run through these walls, but it’s only fun when it’s _not_ about me,” House replied with a grumble. He swung open the glass door to the consultation room and stepped aside. “After you.” Talia shook her head briskly.

“No, you first. I don’t…I don’t know these people,” she murmured uncomfortably, noticing three doctors already sitting in there and suddenly filling an abundance of nerves build up in her stomach. House rolled his eyes and his head lolled back lazily before limping in himself.

“Gooooood morning chimps," he saluted the group, making them glance up. Their eyebrows raised as they saw Talia follow in timidly.

"Who's this?" the pretty faced brunette woman asked.

“I’m Talia, I’m a family member-”

“On vacation,” House quickly added in, resting himself on the desk. “Talia this is Doctors Foreman, Chase and Cameron."

"Oh?" Foreman raised an eyebrow. "How exactly are you related, may I ask?"

"Does it matter?" Talia shot back swiftly, cocking her head to one side. Everyone in the room appeared to be slightly taken aback at that point - House especially, who was actually reasonably impressed. At that point, he didn't even feel the need to see the results of those DNA tests - this must’ve been his daughter, there was absolutely no doubt about it.

“Alright, so the patient's scared of blinking," Cameron interrupted the building tension as Foreman stared Talia out. Talia was holding her own, though - clearly unfazed. "She's having stomach aches and multiple muscle spasms in her thigh. We've given her antibiotics but no effect yet-"

“Well that’s because she doesn't need antibiotics anymore, she just needs antigens. Of course the antibiotics won't work unless there's something to actually fight off," Talia pointed out quietly, staring at all of them as if they were bonkers. House squinted his eyes slightly but stayed quiet.

"So _you're_ suggesting to inject an illness that she doesn't actually have?" Foreman scoffed, looking _incredibly_ sceptical.

“Uh _yeah?_ If you do that then the antibiotics have no choice but to treat everything at once, so you’re pretty much killing all your demons in one day," Talia explained simply, ruffling out her curly blonde locks.

“That…actually makes sense," Cameron blinked. “House, who is-”

"Sounds good to me! Get it done,” House pitched in, before hobbling back out of the office. Talia smiled to herself slightly as the rest of the team filed out too. Foreman shot her a strange look, Cameron smiled at her as she slipped by and Chase didn’t do anything. He barely even looked at her.

What a strange bunch.

"You have a crush on her," Cameron grinned over to Chase, as they stepped across the polished floors back to the patient’s ward.

"Excuse me?" Chase scoffed back.

"You kept quiet and you only do that when you’re shy - you have a crush on her," Cameron continued to smirk.

“Oh shut _up_ , Allison. I barely saw her for more than a second,” Chase grumbled, shaking his head. “We’re not kids.”

“Well _I_ don't like her," Foreman came out with it without being asked.

"Why? Because she's just a female version of House and you can barely stand him as it is?" Cameron laughed slightly, finding this whole thing more than amusing.

“Ummm that's exactly why, yes,” Foreman nodded. "Which means, Chase, _you_ wouldn't be able to get within a mile’s radius of her either. Since when has House been known for his interpersonal skills?”

“Oh god, you as well? Who said I _wanted_ to get anywhere near her?" Chase pointed out before waking ahead of them to end the conversation. Foreman and Cameron shot each other amused knowing looks and said nothing more.

…

Talia was still in that consultation room a few hours later. She was flicking through a Merck Manual, eagerly soaking up all the information. She had a degree already, and she had completed medical school a little earlier than the regular person. Her face had been plastered all over the UK tabloids for weeks - they all adored her. _‘Glamour Model Excels Med School_ ’, _‘From Sexy Shoots To Scalpel Roots’_ , _’Aspiring Model, 24, Shocks World With Advanced Learning In Medical Field’_.

She’d seen them all, and she hated them all.

Chase suddenly breezed into the office, but when he saw Talia he slowed down. She glanced up at him, sensing his presence. "Hey," she smiled slightly, turning her attention back to the book. Chase swallowed and made his way to the coffee machine, almost dropping the empty cups on the way there. "You okay there?" Talia laughed lightly, turning a page without looking up.

"Y-yeah. Uh, d’ya want one?" Chase offered up as he finally started the coffee machine.

"No thanks. I’m allergic to granules," Talia declined politely with her eyes fixed on the text.

"Right," Chase nodded slowly, before Cameron, Foreman and House walked and hobbled in.

"Well Talia, your antigen idea worked…” Foreman began, sitting down opposite her. She glanced up briefly.

“Oh! _Good_ ," she shot him a smile.

“…but now she's vomiting blood," Foreman finished, giving her a knowing look. Talia cocked her head to the side, admittedly a little taken aback.

"That's a shame," she frowned before going back to the book. "But her original problem is gone?"

"Well yeah," Cameron nodded. "But what’s the core?"

"Mexophilia?" Chase considered, sipping his newly brewed coffee from across the room.

"I don't think so," Talia chewed on her lip, closing the book now. Chase squinted over at her in wonder. “Well. We know what antibiotics can do. It’s probably-"

"With all due respect, and I don't have much for you right now, _we're_ the doctors here, so could you just?" Foreman asked her loudly, making everyone wince. But Talia didn't look taken aback at all.

"Fine, but I'm gonna write down what _I_ think it is," she muttered, scribbling something down and folding the paper in half. Foreman rolled his eyes and turned back to the group as Talia watched them all amusedly.

"Have you given her an endoscopy?" House asked.

"She's being prepped for it as we speak," Cameron confirmed tiredly.

“What, do you think it's severe gastro-oesophageal disease?" Chase suggested to House.

"No, there was literally no hydrochloric acid at all in her vomit," Foreman shrugged, completely stumped.

"But she _did_ say that she was bulimic before this," Cameron reminded them, chewing on the tip of her pen.

"So..it's probably just a torn lining in the oesophagus," Foreman concluded.

"There you go. Prepare her for surgery," House told them. Talia rolled her eyes and stood up before any of them could so much as move, sliding the paper across the table toward Foreman in particular.

“Merry Christmas. I’m going to get food,” she hummed with a stiff smile before leaving. Even House limped round to see what it said as Foreman unfolded it.

_'torn lining in the oesophagus (mallory-weiss)?’_

“Ya gotta give it to her. She’s good," Cameron nodded, as even House looked briefly impressed. Foreman just rolled his eyes and crumpled the paper before chucking it into the bin, making Chase smirk.

…

An hour or so later, Talia was pacing the lengths of the hospital, peering through each window that she could. She noticed Chase was in one of them, talking to a little girl who had cancer. She couldn’t help but smile slightly at the sweet sight of them. The little girl, Athena, glanced up and just in time to see Talia peering through. "Who's that?" she asked Chase croakily, lifting a wired hand to gesture towards the door. Chase glanced up from where he was changing then IV drip and saw Talia peering curiously through the class.

“Oh, that's Talia," Chase murmured before turning his attention back to the IV.

"She's _pretty_ ," Athena muttered in awe as Talia walked away again. " _Really_ pretty, like a princess. Like the princesses I saw in Disneyland.”

"Mmmm," Chase hummed unenthusiastically. Athena frowned at him and pouted her lips.

"Don't _you_ think she's pretty, Doctor Chase?” she blinked up at him, looking rather disappointed at his lacklustre reaction. Chase glanced down at her, confused at where all these questions were coming from.

"I mean, yeah, I think she's pretty. But why would that make a-"

"Will you date her? OH! Will you _marry_ her?” Athena giggled excitedly, her pale little face lighting up like a Christmas tree at night. "You two would be so wonderful, just like Cinderella! Then you could get married in a _castle!_ ” Chase found himself blushing slightly at the little girl’s rush of excitement.

“That’s sweet of you Athena, but I've only know her for a few hours," he dismissed quickly.

"So?" Athena blinked innocently, not understanding.

"So it’s far too soon and I hardly know her! It's fine, I'll just admire from afar," smirked Chase, although deep down he was now desperate to get out of this conversation.

"But will you ask her out _one_ day? You should totally do that,” Athena pressured Chase, who was gradually beginning to look very uncomfortable.

"I barely know her full name,” he sighed heavily, shaking his head. “In fact, I don't know anything about her. The real world isn’t like the films, Athena-“

“Life is too short! Promise me that you'll ask her out one day? You look like a prince and she's like a princess, it would be a dream to know I helped you find a princess,” Athena gushed, her eyes sparkling. Bless her, she was so deep in her dream. "Promise?" Chase chewed the inside of his bottom lip and nodded a little reluctantly.

"Fine. I'm gonna go and take a look at your results okay?" Dr Chase muttered, giving her a small smile before readying himself to leave.

"Wait, can I meet her? Please?” Athena perked up eagerly. She was clearly very taken with Talia already - reasonably strange but fair enough. Chase frowned in confusion but nodded anyway, not wanting to disappoint a terminally ill child.

…

"Talia?" Chase called out as he walked into the consultation office. Talia was sat on one of the chairs, sipping orange juice and reading a medical mag. She glanced up at the mention of her name in that beautiful Australian accent of his.

" _Dr Chase?_ " she responded, mocking his uncertain tone.

"Um, a patient has requested to see you," Chase mumbled awkwardly. "Athena in room 21."

“Room 21? The little cancer patient?" Talia blinked, now pushing the magazine to one side.

"Yes - a-a-and anything she says may just be because the medication is kicking in so don’t be alarmed," Chase quickly added, slowly realising why Athena actually wanted her there.

“Gotcha, thanks," Talia smiled, heaving herself up and making her way to Athena's ward.


	3. first day done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Princesses, phone calls and unspoken words...and Talia hasn't even taken a case yet? How bizarre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the third chapter rewrite of my old fanfic 'Daughter Of A Doctor', which I wrote SIX YEARS AGO. I've had an influx of messages recently asking me to continue and frankly…I couldn't bring myself to do it if I didn't rewrite it first!

Talia stopped outside of Room 21. She wasn’t ready to go in yet, due to nerves that she couldn't explain, but Athena had already noticed her through the glass and waved her in. So she took a deep breath and walked in. "Hello," she beamed, giving Athena a slightly timid wave. “How are you?"

"I'm as okay as I can be," Athena smiled back politely. “My name is Athena. What’s yours?”

“Nice to meet you, Athena. I’m Talia," Talia responded, going to sit down on the armchair beside her bed. “I heard you wanted to see me?”

“Yes! I saw you through the window when I was speaking to Dr Chase and thought you were _really_ pretty, like a princess." Talia blushed and ducked her head.

“Well, thank you. That’s _very_ kind.”

"I also think that Dr Chase secretly likes you," Athena began, having no filter whatsoever. Talia raised an eyebrow in surprise.

" _What?_ That's a bit random," she laughed awkwardly, shuffling her shoulders and rolling her neck from side to side. "I've only known him for a few hours!”

“I was talking to him about you and he got all embarrassed! My mommy says boys only do that with girls they _like_ ,” Athena recited wisely just as her mum happened to walk in with a bouquet of roses followed by some other family members. Talia stood up at the sight of them and quickly cleared her throat.

“Well! _Thank you_ for telling me that, Athena and I hope you get better soon,” she smiled warmly, kissing the top of her head and quickly walking out, flustered. Now, she didn’t know whether Athena was saying that because of the drugs she was on, or if there was some truth to it - but it was entirely too much for her first day visiting a hospital.

“Talia!” came Chase’s panicked voice, freaking her out even more as she just so happened to bump into him in the hallway. “Did you speak to Athena? What did she say?”

“Oh, just some things," Talia shrugged, shooting him a nonchalant smile. If this was true, God knows she wanted to play on it and make it playfully awkward. And from the way Chase raised his eyebrow, she could tell it was working.

"Oh," he muttered. “Um-" But before they could finish, another familiar voice interrupted them both.

"Oh there you guys are," Cameron breathed as she approached them. She was followed suit by Foreman and House himself.

"Well the patient’s being discharged,” Foreman announced with a nod. Talia rolled her eyes, still irritated that she was robbed of the chance to say her _correct_ opinion.

"Great, I'm glad," she sighed.

"Talia unless you wanna take the late bus, I _suggest_ we get going," House announced before they got any further into it. Talia nodded and gave everyone a stiff wave.

"Thank you for everything guys," she smiled slightly. Everyone waved goodbye back.

”No thank YOU," Cameron smiled, clearly very taken to her already. Foreman raised his eyebrows as said nothing - neither did Chase.

"Yeah yeah we're all very happy, c’mon Talia," House rolled his eyes, clearly bored of this conversation. Talia followed him out of the hospital grounds and they both drove back to his house without another word.

…

"Thanks for today," Talia smiled to her father as she tied her hair into a messy topknot to get ready for bed. "It was pretty cool seeing all that stuff up close." House nodded slowly whilst Talia gave him a final smile and slipped into the spare room. Just as she disappeared, House’s mobile began to ring in his back pocket. He answered it without looking at the caller ID, his eyes still trained on Talia. She had now found an Autopsy book and was soaking up the information cross legged on the bed and her large thick black glasses perched on the edge of her nose.

"Yup?"

"Greg, it's Miranda," came a sharp female voice. House's shoulders dropped and his head lolled back, not looking forward to this conversation already.

"What the hell do you want?" he grumbled, leaning against the wall.

"I believe you have my- _our_ daughter with you?" Miranda hinted.

"Oh yeah. Thanks for that _stunning_ revelation by the way," House muttered out angrily.

“Oh stop the melodramatics. I sent her to you out of pure anger so if you want to return her-”

“Uh-uh, no - you sent her here out of _intoxication_ ," House corrected her. “‘ _Useless failed abortion’?_ ”

"I didn't mean it-!” was Miranda’s only weak defence.

"Aw, yeah. Neither did the vodka," House mocked back. He heard Miranda grumble a few profanities down the line.

"Whatever. Like I said, I don't mind if you return her, it must be a bit awkward. I _also_ have no problem you keeping her - in fact _that's_ where I would prefer her to be." House peered over at his supposed daughter again to see her scribbling down notes from the book. She clearly loved the profession and House knew that it would be a matter of cruelty to _force_ her to live with her mother, who wanted her to be a _model_ for goodness sake.

How’s _that_ for wasted talent?

"Fine," he murmured. There was a thick silence floating in the air. Half of it was from Miranda’s shock, and the other half was House waiting for Miranda's verdict. "She can stay here on one condition."

"Yes, anything?" Miranda said quickly.

"You get some _goddamn_ rehabilitation," House hissed before swiftly hanging up. He waited a few moments before sighing and hobbling over to Talia's open door, giving it a slow knock.

"Yup?" Talia responded, looking up at him with a slightly warm smile. House took this as his cue to enter.

"Did you wanna go back home?" he began simply.

"No," Talia replied automatically. She was prepared for this question and didn't want to mess it up by giving the wrong answer under pressure.

"Fine," House replied just as swiftly, turning around to leave again. Talia blinked.

"Um...'Fine'?" she repeated, wondering if this was a joke.

"Yes, fine. Is that not a word in England? The word 'fine' meaning ‘okay' meaning ‘alright’ meaning-”

"So you're _not_ sending me back home?"

"No, Talia, I'm _not_ ," House spelled it out for her a little slower. "If you don't want to go back I'm not gonna kidnap you and throw you into a car am I?"

“And you've spoken to my mother about this?"

"Sadly yes," House responded shortly, before actually leaving the room. Talia smirked and hugged herself excitedly. This should be fun.

Then she thought of what Athena told her earlier in the day regarding Doctor Chase and she felt her stomach explode into butterflies.

…

Talia strode into the consulting room with House the next day - much to Chase and Cameron’s surprise and to Foreman’s adamant disappointment. "You're back?" he frowned.

"Apparently so," Talia smiled warmly, looking so genuinely pleased that even Foreman couldn't keep a miserable face. It was strange seeing someone _so_ passionate about the profession to the point where she _couldn’t_ stop smiling.

"We got the MRI results back," Chase pointed out to House, almost ignoring Talia's entire existence. Not that it mattered - she enjoyed the ever-growing tension between them.

"It's a lesion," Foreman pointed out obviously.

"And that giant green thing in the middle is a bouncy castle. I was hoping for something a bit more _creative?_ ” House muttered. Talia raised an amused eyebrow and leant back in her chair, watching them work whilst nibbling the tip of her pen. But then she thought of something.

“Have you consulted the patient?” she piped up.

“Nope!” House announced back, specifically popping the ‘p’.

“Um, why not? Shouldn’t you be consulting the patient _before_ you start diagnosing?" Talia questioned, looking rather confused.

“Can’t believe I’m about to say this but - I actually _agree_ with Talia," Foreman announced slowly.

"Is the patient a doctor?" House asked Foreman.

"No, but-"

"Everybody lies," House stated simply.

"Dr. House doesn't like dealing with patients," Cameron whispered across to Talia.

“Huh. Isn't treating patients why you became doctors?" Talia frowned.

"No, _curing illnesses_ is why we became doctors. Treating patients is what ruins the job.”

"So you’re actually trying to eliminate humanity from the medicinal practice?" Foreman scoffed.

"Not trying - _succeeding,_ " House corrected him, tapping the MRI with the tip of his own pen. "I don't think it's a tumor." As the doctors argued amongst themselves, Chase and Talia exchanged glances across the room and couldn’t help but smile at each other for a few seconds, before Talia ducked her head a little and he blushed and glanced away.

"Chase? What do you think?" Foreman suddenly asked, noticing his lack of concentration.

"Um...Aneurysm, stroke, or some other ischemic syndrome?" Chase guessed, snapping back to the conversation. Talia giggled to herself and House raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Get her a contrast MRI," he muttered. "And re-draw the blood tests. We need to see exactly what we're dealing with here. I'm gonna go see Dr. Cuddy." Chase shot Talia another smirk before getting up and leaving.

***

"I have a vacancy in my 'squad'," House announced, walking directly into Cuddy's office without knocking.

“Hello to you- oh?” Cuddy raised an eyebrow, putting down her pen. "And who are you suggesting should take that empty vacancy? You’ve never _cared_ to fill it before-”

"Talia," House replied automatically, throwing Cuddy a whole bunch of paperwork that was neatly stapled together.

“Your family friend? Did Talia actually ask for this or are you-”

"I spoke about it with her yesterday," House shortly assured her. "It's all done."

“Right….and you've got the qualifications, the resume, Talia's parents contact details for next of-?”

“Just read the papers and give her the job." House swept back out of the room again and Cuddy could only sigh, picking up the papers and shifting through them unenthusiastically. Talia's educational background was impressive, but that wasn’t what Cuddy was searching for. She found the family background page but saw there was only one signature, and one nearly printed name under ‘FATHER':

**'GREGORY HOUSE'**


	4. the kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to stay true to my original 2014 plot line until I branch off and continue a fresh storyline. Please bear with me if you're cringing a little cos heyyy me too!

Later that same day, Talia knocked on Cuddy’s office door, trying to keep herself composed. She wasn’t overly sure what she could possibly want her for, but she was certainly about to find out. “Yes?” Cuddy called out without looking up from where she was at her desk typing out an email. Talia took an extremely deep breath before opening the glass door and fully entered the office. Talia gave a light cough to clear her throat.

"Sorry, excuse me, Dr. Cuddy? You wanted to see me?" Cuddy glanced up at the sound of that smooth, polite British accent and smiled sweetly.

"Hey Talia, come and take a seat." Talia nodded and did as she was told, clasping her hands together in her lap once she was seated. “I was just looking at a few bits and pieces about you on your job application and I _just_ wanted to clarify that Dr. Gregory House _is_ in fact your father?” Talia blinked for a brief moment of surprise before quickly straightening herself up and nodding.

“Well, he took a sample of my DNA a few days back and I assumed that we were just waiting for my results, but I'm guessing that if he’s actually _signed_ his name under the name 'father' that it's true. I…I _certainly_ didn’t fill out those forms,” she explained honestly, pushing her blonde side fringe from falling over her eyes and tucking it behind her ear.

So he _was_ her father? When was he planning to tell her that then?

All Cuddy could do was sigh at Talia’s words. She had so many questions about her and House, but she wisely decided to shrug it off for now, not wanting to seem too inner. She couldn’t put her finger on why she _cared_ so much that House actually had a daughter, but for some reason, she just _did._

“Well, there’s no denying that your education is just _extraordinary_ ," Cuddy nodded, redirecting her attention back to the paperwork. “All that medical talent…swapped for modelling?”

“Hm. My mother’s wishes,” Talia muttered out bitterly.

“Well I’d hate for that to go to waste any longer than it already has. So, if you’re happy with it - we’d be more than happy to take you on for six month placement before giving you a more permanent role.” Talia gasped and clapped her hands excitedly as her heart soared. _Finally_ , she’d be able to do what she’d always dreamed of.

"Thank you so much!” she breathed, her eyes practically oozing gratitude.

"No problem," Cuddy smiled back. "You'll be on House’s team…for the time being at least…and you’ll be shadowing Doctor Chase on your placement." Talia’s smile slipped before she could stop it and she gulped. Cuddy was sharp - she noticed it almost immediately. “Is that a problem? I mean, we can always get you shadowing someone else if-”

“No! No, its fine. Just…thank you, _thank you_ for this opportunity.”

…

That evening, Talia decided to take a stroll around the local area, still being somewhat new to America. She spotted a quiet little bar a few blocks down from the hospital and decided to slip inside - a drink never went amiss. The atmosphere was quiet but friendly, and there were only a few people seated at the bar itself. Much to her surprise, Chase was one of them. He was seated furthest away from the door, sipping a drink and chatting to the barman. She hovered there for a few moments, trying to decipher whether to approach him or walk away. She wanted to walk away - but she was bolder than that.

Talia took a few short breaths before mustering up the courage to saunter over to him. She tapped him on the shoulder and he glanced up - before his eyes lit up considerably once he saw her standing there. “Oh! Hey," he smirked, sitting up straight. “Fancy seeing you here!”

“I know, right?” Talia joked lightly. “I’m like a damn virus!”

“Ah I wouldn’t say that! Viruses are bad,” Chase chuckled, making Talia giggle back. This version of him was much better than the one in a hospital. “What have you been up to today then?”

“Yup! I just got a 6 month placement there and _apparently_ I'm shadowing you starting from tomorrow," Talia beamed a little shyly, tucking those wavy blonde locks behind her ear. Chase’s eyebrows shot up and he nodded cooly, trying to play it off as if it was nothing when in reality, he was somewhat thrilled.

"Lucky me," he smirked Talia laughed lightly and rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, I know you guys _think_ I am, but I’m honestly _nothing_ like House," she assured him. "Even though…” Talia trailed off and shrugged, decided not to reveal that fun little fact quite yet. Chase raised an amused eyebrow for a few moments before straightening up.

“Um, can I get you a drink of some sort?” he offered up. Talia blinked in surprise but quickly nodded.

“That would be _lovely_ , thank you!

…

"Can I ask you a question?" Talia asked a good few drinks later on their way home. The conversation between them had been nice, full of basic questions about their childhood, a little about Talia’s educational background - you know, nice and surface level. The conversation was wrapping up, so Chase was getting himself ready to walk Talia to House’s place like the gentleman he was.

“A question? Sure - shoot it," he nodded as he shoved on his black leather jacket.

“This might sound a bit mad but - do you think I’m pretty?" Talia asked bluntly, with an absolute lack of shame. Chase froze in his movements and squinted his eyes at her, trying to determine whether or not she was joking.

And from the look on her face - it was becoming clear that she wasn’t.

“I’m sorry?”

“Don’t make me _spell it out,_ Chase,” Talia sighed, covering her face with her hands.

“I think you’re a nice person…and I see you as nothing more than a nice person who I’ve known for all of a few days," he began, deliberately taking his time so that he could pick his words wisely. This was far too bizarre for him. “I think you-”

"Athena told me," Talia interrupted with a risen hand. "And if I'm gonna be working with you, like _side by side,_ I can't have it awkward between us. It’ll just get in the way of my-"

“Athena? Well I _told you_ not to listen to Athena," Chase grumbled half-heartedly. “She’s nothing more than a child with a dream-”

“Whilst that may be the case, I’d still like to know. Athena implied that you got all shy when talking about me,” Talia smirked, not breaking eye contact with him once. Chase sighed and rolled his head in a circular motion.

"I- I’m…well, I don't know you that well? But yes you are attractive, and that's _all_ I said to Athena, I swear. Nothing more, nothing less,” he explained uncomfortably as they walked down the lamp lit roads amongst the warm orange glow.

“Right then! That settles it,” Talia mumbled, crossing her arms. “Well, I just wanted to check - thank you for clearing that up.”

“Glad I could help,” Chase tried to joke, but it just came off as blunt. They finished the rest of their journey to House's building in silence. But even when they arrived and faced each other to part ways, Talia _just_ still couldn’t let it go. Athena’s words were ringing relentlessly in her head and frankly, she didn’t believe a word of what Chase was saying.

And one thing about Talia, was that she never backed down with ease.

"So just to check, you _DON’T_ like me?" Talia quickly clarified one last time, staring Chase straight in his crystal blue eyes before they could say goodbye.

“Yes! I mean…no, not in that way. Just in a… _coworker_ way,” Chase replied carefully, lying shamelessly through his teeth.

“Right. And you’re sure?" Talia pushed.

"Positive," Chase nodded firmly as his eyes briefly shifted to the left. Now she _knew_ he was lying - and it was clearly time to have some fun with it, just like she did before in the office.

"Right, so you wouldn't mind kissing me?" Talia hummed as her words slurred slightly. Chase’s mouth practically dropped open in surprise. Sure, they’d both had a few drinks but _really?_ This ballsy?

"I don't think that would be appropriate now that we’re co-workers,” Chase mumbled, eyes darting from Talia's sea green eyes to her perfectly shaped lips and back up again. To be fair, they certainly looked inviting.

“Ohhh come _on_ , Doctor Chase. Were you ever one to abide by the book?" Talia giggled as she playfully cocked her head to the side.

“The book? I’d like to think that I _wrote_ the book," Chase replied, now smirking at how giddy she was being.

“Hey! Kissing me shouldn't be a problem if you don't _feel_ anything," Talia shrugged bluntly as the bubbles lifted to her brain.

“Talia, this is a lot of hassle to go through just to make a point," Chase chuckled fairly.

“Ohhh just _do it,_ Chase," Talia groaned, having had enough. Chase sighed and strangely found himself leaning in to meet Talia's lips, instantly warning up to her and raising his hands to cup her cheeks so that she could kiss back to the rhythm that he was kissing her. They slowly broke apart after several seconds, staring at each other for a few moments of blissful silence. “You’re right. Nothing to feel there,” Talia hummed to him before opening the front door and disappearing inside, leaving a sprung and shocked Chase left standing there on House’s doorstep.

…

The next morning, Chase walked in to the consulting office before the rest, starting the coffee machine and thinking back to last night. Now that he was completely sober, he saw how point blank stupid it was. He had only knew Talia for all of a few days, gotten a little tipsy, ended up kissing her - and liked it, A LOT. That _can’t_ have been professional. Firstly, he only just learnt a little about her the day before amongst a number of drinks, and secondly, he never usually put himself out there for someone he had hardly spoken to. So how on earth she managed to have him doing things that he never did before, he had no idea.

But before Chase could make any conclusions about what he should do about the situation, his suddenly phone buzzed from where it lay on the table.

It was from Talia - even though he hadn't given her his number. It read,

_‘Good morning, it's Talia. I am SO about last night…I woke up SO embarrassed?!! Please forgive my forwardness...it was totally unprofessional of me! The kiss meant nothing and never happened, okay? X {Got your number from House}'_

Chase groaned to himself and slipped the phone back into his pocket, before lowering his head until it conked against the glass table. He was getting a massive headache just thinking about it all. He almost _wanted_ it to mean something which confused him even more.

But it couldn't. She said so herself - it never happened.

Chase didn't know how to respond so he simply didn't reply. He lifted his head up just as Foreman waltzed in with Cameron and Wilson by his side, the three of them bickering about something.

"Are you sure?" Cameron was asking Wilson with a look of bewilderment plastered on her face.

_"Yes,"_ Wilson insisted amusedly. "Cuddy told me today. I didn’t believe it until I saw the paperwork with my own two eyes!"

"It makes sense as to why they are so alike!" Foreman exclaimed, slamming himself into a chair as Cameron nodded eagerly in agreement.

"But did he know she existed? Because if so, how didn’t YOU know about it? And if he _didn’t_ , then how is he acting do natural about it?" Cameron frowned, making her way over to the coffee machine too.

"I honestly don't know," Wilson shrugged in response. "But it is pretty darn cool."

“Yeah I mean if _that’s_ the word you’re looking for," Foreman hummed under his breath.

"She’s beautiful though. Got some great genes,” Cameron narrowed her eyes to picture the resemblance. Chase was now certain they were talking about Talia, so only _now_ did he care.

"What...what are you guys on about?" he asked casually, pretending that he hadn't been eagerly listening for all that time.

"Talia is actually Talia _House,_ " Cameron announced loudly over the whirr of the coffee machine. Chase raised an unsurprised eyebrow.

"Yeah we knew that much, aren't they like cousins or something?" he guessed, now not as interested as he took a sip of his drink.

"Nope," Wilson grinned as he leant on the edge of the countertop. "Father and daughter-" Suddenly Chase snorted in surprise, taking so much coffee in his mouth that it actually went through his nose.

“ _E-excuse_ me?" he spluttered, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Talia is his daughter. House filled in the paperwork for her to join the hospital under a placement and _his_ name and signature was under 'father'. How _bizarre_ is that?" Wilson chuckled, shaking his head and staring off into the distance in thought. "I'm just surprised at House's reaction. He said _nothing!_ ”

"I'm more interested in _Chase's_ reaction," Foreman grinned, sensing that _something_ must’ve been going on between Talia and himself in order for him to react that way.

"It's just a surprise that's all. She's meant to be shadowing me for a few months, so you’ve pretty much told me that I've got to work with House's _spawn,_ " Chase shrugged it off with a grumble, pushing his mug away.

"That also means you won't be able to date her after all," Foreman hummed.

“Yup!" Chase agreed much to everyone's surprise, before standing up and taking his phone out of his pocket. "It _certainly_ does." As he walked out, he was already on his phone replying back to the text:

_‘Haha no worries! You’re right, it was a little bizarre. Let's just start fresh. *laughing emoji*_


	5. the pen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm aware how cringey this might seem but I'm really trying to honour my original storyline before branching off so bear with! Also, next week I'll be updating twice to try and welcome November (might keep that going for all of November since England's in a month long lockdown...eek?)

"Do you think they had a moment already?" Cameron quizzed Foreman quietly, as they prepared a dosage of antibiotics for their patient.

“ _A moment?_ ” Foreman repeated with a slight laugh.

“Yeah…you know…together?”

“Um…maybe?” Foreman hummed back with a shrug of contemplation. "I _did_ think so at first, but Chase is acting _waaay_ too calm. He just found out that she’s House’s _literal_ blood - I feel like if they did anything serious, he’d be freaking out right now. _I_ sure as hell would be.”

“Mmmmm, good point,” Cameron agreed, placing the discarded needle in the steriliser bin and snapping off her gloves. But before either one of them could speak again, Talia knocked on the lab door, poking her head through with a little smile. Foreman and Cameron glanced up and immediately plastered matching smiles on their own faces once they saw it was her, in an attempt to act natural.

“Talia? I thought you were meant to be doing a hospital induction today?” Cameron blinked.

“I did…I finished early. Turns out that finishing all of the introductory ‘and _this_ is the….’ sentences doesn’t make you popular and neither does it make you particularly liked,” Talia grimaced back, leading Foreman to let out a little chuckle and shake his head. “Anyway I’m sorry to interrupt you guys, but have any of you seen Doctor Chase around? Might as well see him before I go home.”

"He's probably hanging around in the consultation room - try there,” Cameron told her with a helpful nod.

“Ah, cheers guys. As you were!” Talia beamed, about to leave again.

"Wait, Talia!” Cameron called after her before she could disappear. Talia poked her head around the doorframe again, that sweet smile still on her face. "Don't be too surprised if he seems a little… _off…_ today.”

That’s when Talia's smile slipped and her heart began to race. What did that mean?

“Wait - _what?_ Why would he-”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” Foreman rushed out through gritted teeth, but Cameron was too eager to assure as pure usual.

“Yeah I mean it's nothing _huge_ ," she interrupted him, much to his irritation. “We…we just found out about you and House. We know that he’s your dad." Talia raised an unamused eyebrow and let out a light scoff.

“It's incredible how _nothing_ can stay private in a place that’s so hot on confidentiality and all that jazz," she muttered under her breath before disappearing again. Foreman spun around to face Cameron once she had gone.

"Why the _hell_ did you tell her that? What if Wilson gets _in trouble_ for that?!”

"I just felt kinda _bad_ that we all knew this huge secret without her knowing that we knew! Doesn’t she have the right to know what we know about her?” Cameron hissed back in a panic. Foreman blinked at her as if she was mad.

“What are you even _saying?!_ ”

“I didn't want her to overthink his irrational behaviour should it occur! Do you know how easy it is for women to overthink things?”

“You know what? Let’s just go," Foreman grumbled out, leaving both the lab and the regretful Cameron standing in it.

…

“Chase!" Talia panted as she skid across the polished hallway floors, meeting him just as he happened to step out of the elevator. His eyes lit up before he could stop himself and he gave her a shy smile.

“Ah, morning! I was _wondering_ when you were gonna turn up to see me after the hastily cut induction," he chuckled, now walking down the corridor beside her. It was immediately obvious that the tension between them was still there, but all Talia could do was bite back how she felt and keep it stepping.

"Yeah I was meant to see you _before_ I started instead, but my da- I mean _House_ wanted to visit some motorbike shop,” Talia explained apologetically, taking a hairband out of her back pocket and tying her loose blonde waves into a pretty but messy ponytail. “I opted to wait in the car, though. Can’t say I was _overly_ thrilled by it.” At that point, Chase stopped walking and turned to face her, which made Talia stop abruptly in retaliation.

“Talia, I know that House is your father," he murmured under his breath, holding Talia's shoulders firmly as he stared into her eyes…and tried his upmost hardest not to get completely lost in them again.

“Ohhhhh here we _go_ ," Talia groaned under her breath, shaking her head and breaking eye contact. “I’m sorry for not telling you earlier. I kinda… _just_ got that confirmation myself.”

“Ah don’t worry about it. You didn’t owe me any explanation, we had only just met,” Chase shrugged as if it was perfectly fine. Clearly, Talia felt otherwise.

“ _God._ Things are gonna be proper weird now, aren't they?” she muttered under her breath. But, to her pleasant surprise, Chase actually smiled a real smile and dropped his hands from her shoulders so that they dangled by his side again.

“Well, I wouldn’t say _‘proper weird’_. I’m pretty used to House, so how hard can _you_ be to handle?” he chuckled lightly. Talia bit back a smile and tried not to make reference to the suggestiveness of that comment - but Chase already heard it and was equally biting back his words. So Talia went for a change of topic instead.

“ _So…_ dare I ask, how many people know?" she frowned, chewing the inside of her cheek.

“At _this_ point? Probably…pretty much everyone," Chase winced awkwardly.

“Oh of _course_ they do," Talia muttered in irritation. “Bloody hell.”

“Hey, it's alright! Gossip here doesn’t last longer than a weekend - by next week, you’ll be old news,” Chase assured her, beginning to continue walking again. Talia could do nothing but sigh and follow him, not having much else to do. “But honestly, if I were you, I’d watch what I tell people here. Yeah we’re all good doctors, but even _doctors_ need entertainment. Seriously - your father being the most bored out of us all.” Talia let out a little laugh.

She wasn’t stupid.

“You’re basically telling me _not_ to tell anyone that we kissed?” she hummed, causing Chase to stop walking again and spin around to face her again.

“I…that’s not what I-” he began to splutter - but once he saw the smug smirk playing on Talia’s plump lips, he quickly realised that she was saying it to get on his nerves.

“It’s _fine_ Dr Chase - your secret’s safe with me,” she tutted playfully, before striding off and leaving Chase to scurry after her in a rush. Truthfully, he had no idea how he always made her feel so flustered no matter what she did or said - but he hoped that it wasn’t too obvious to her or anyone else. “I mean, the kiss _was_ ridiculous, wasn't it?" Talia suddenly brought it back up out of nowhere without thinking. Chase clenched his jaw, gulped and forced a steady nod, unsure of whether to agree or disagree. “I mean we’re colleagues and it would be completely _bonkers_ to step out of such a…professional and strict relationship formation.”

"True, even if we did have an attraction towards each other - that's not really the way to go about it, is it? To have a quick drunken snog on the doorstep," Chase inputted, slowly understanding what she was doing and determined to beat her at her own game… _for once._

"I know, right? What _was_ I thinking? We would have to do it more maturely - oh my god, like this film I watched on the plane on the way here! This guy…he turned up on this chick’s doorstep returning a pen or something that he knew wasn’t even hers just to see her face again…then they started a slow and wonderful journey of getting to know each other, and nothing had to happen between them immediately, but at least she knew that he was somewhat interested in her…” Talia began to drift off dreamily, stopping in her tracks yet again.

Then she remembered where the hell she was and quickly snapped out of it and cleared her throat. “It was a great film. But I fell asleep before the end, so I couldn’t tell you what happened next.”

"Huh," Chase hummed thoughtfully, shoving his hands into his white coat pockets.

“Anyway! Like I said - your secret is safe with me,” Talia assured him quickly. She shot him a smile and ducked her head. “I’ll see you in a few days - Dr. Cuddy said I could settle into House’s house properly before jumping straight into work. I look forward to working with you.”

“Yeah….as do I,” Chase muttered with a brief smile, indicating the end of the conversation so that Talia could sweep out of the hospital, all flustered.

…

That evening, Talia was curled up on the sofa in her pyjamas and eating spicy noodles whilst reading the Merck Manual again as if it were a Harry Potter book. As she engulfed herself in the information, Wilson strolled in with his own takeout, a little startled to see her there. “Oh! How could I forget, you live here now," he chuckled amusedly. Talia drew her knees to her chest as she placed her bowl down on the coffee table.

“I know, ain’t it crazy?” she smirked back, pushing some of her loose long dark blonde hair out of her face to see him better. "Do you live here too? Oh god, don’t tell me I’ve taken your room-”

“No no," Wilson chuckled, shuffling off his jacket. "Oh no, I'm happily married. I just spend _entirely_ too much time here.”

"I see," Talia raised a perfectly arched eyebrow in interest. “I take it…and pardon me for the assumption…that your marriage is breaking down?” Wilson froze with his hand hovered midway in the air, from where he was about to reach for a fork.

"Wha- _how?_ ”

“How what?”

“How did you…I mean did House-”

“ _House?_ No, he told me nothing.”

“So then-” Talia sighed and put her noodle bowl down.

“I neither mentioned your marriage, nor did I ask how it was going. You decided to tell me that your marriage was happy, completely unprovoked - this leaves me with one of two options. Either a) you told me you were happily married because you believe that I’m hitting on you, of which both know wasn’t the case, or b) you're having problems with your wife and the only way to convince yourself that you weren't was if you deemed your marriage as ‘happy’. You’re in self-denial, Wilson - although obviously, that’s not a problem and neither is it my own business,” she explained simply with a little smile to finish before picking back up her noodle bowl. All Wilson could do was stare at her in both dumbfounded shock and confusion - when they heard shuffling from somewhere behind, and turned their heads to see House standing there in the doorway with a towel around his shoulders.

" _Definitely_ your daughter by the way," Wilson suddenly grimaced, nodding his head stiffly in Talia's direction.

"You would certainly think," House muttered, having overheard the whole thing. "Or maybe she's just _not an idiot?_ ” Talia couldn’t help it - she let out a short laugh, but hastily turned it into a cough once she saw Wilson's scowling face.

"Charming," he murmured under his breath, now seeing the resemblance between them a even more - when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Must be for you," both House and Wilson told Talia at exactly same time, perfectly in sync. But Talia barely paid any attention to their words as she went back to her noodles and massively thick book, so Wilson went to answer it anyway. She knew it couldn’t be for her, given the fact that nobody knew where she lived.

But then Wilson’s words completely caught her off-guard.

"Oh, Dr Chase!” she heard Wilson hum out in surprise. That’s when Talia's head snapped up, much to House's own amusement. She craned her neck to see none other than the one and only Chase was standing there in the doorway, in his black leather jacket, clutching something in his hands.

He looked… _amazing._

"Evening. Sorry, Talia forgot her pen at the office - I’m just here to return it,” he explained slowly, holding up a blue biro. “Just thought she’d want that back before she starts at the hospital properly. Might be a…special pen.” Wilson glanced over at Talia in confusion and saw her smile shyly, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment, which made Chase smirk.

No way. No _way_ was he implying what she thought he was implying?

"Ah, the irony being, Dr Chase - that's not _actually_ my pen," Talia giggled, swinging her legs over the side of the sofa and standing up to make her way over to him instead. Wilson and House blinked over at each other, now more than marginally baffled.

"Really? Damn, my bad - I could’ve _sworn_ it was,” Chase groaned mockingly, although that smirk never once left his face. Talia shook her head and rolled her eyes once Chase gave her look that practically read 'so do you get the message _now?_ '

"Goodnight Dr Chase," Talia hummed with a nod, both in bidding farewell and answering his question.

"Goodnight Talia," Chase nodded courteously, before saluting both Wilson and House. They gave him a little nod in response as he hopped down the steps and back into his car. Talia watched him leave and bit down on both her lips in amazement, desperately holding back a grin. She shut the front door behind her and leant on it - before bursting out laughing at both House and Wilson’s faces.

“Woah, what's up with you guys?" she asked through her giggles.

“What…was _that?_ " House grumbled out in disgust. Talia smirked to herself and gave a one shouldered shrug.

"You tell me. Goodnight guys!” she yawned, before going to collect her noodles andskipping off to the spare bedroom where she was residing. House frowned with narrowed brows and turned back to Wilson again.

"What _was_ that?" he repeated.

“I….I don’t…know? Young love?" Wilson guessed with a wince as he opened his takeaway container. House squinted his eyes and sat back in his chair.

“Hm. Interesting," he mumbled, pushing his tongue into his cheek in thought.


	6. house's verdict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> House is spotting the signs from Talia and Chase, and he hates it...because House hates happiness.

Talia got up the earliest she could on her first official day of work, her heart still soaring at Chase's 'subtle' hint a few days before. She showered speedily, blow dried her hair and got dressed in her casual jeans and oversized white shirt, then sat in the kitchen with an incredibly milky coffee which admittedly had far too much sugar in it. Then all she could do was wait a little impatiently for her father.

He hobbled out lazily an hour or two later, still not fully ready. “Ugh. You’re up early," he stated obviously.

“One - this _isn't_ early, and two - good morning to you too,” Talia blinked, leaning on the palm of her left hand as she watched him pop a pill.

“Number three - what _I’m_ concerned about is that I'm on at four - meaning there's no one to actually take you there because LORD knows I’m not walking through those doors a split second earlier than I need to," House rounded up, expecting Talia to just roll her eyes and go back to bed.

But he _wasn’t_ expecting her to say what she said next.

“That’s fine, I'll just get Chase to give me a ride instead," she replied breezily, her teaspoon clinking against her mug. House almost straight up choked - on nothing in particular.

" _Chase?_ You've known this guy for not even _a week_ and you're prepared to go all out on him and…get in his _car?_ ” he spluttered in mock surprise. Talia sighed and waved him off, which just made House frown deeper. “Has this got something to do with that damn pen?”

“ _No_ , that was just him coming over to return my pen,” Talia murmured.

“No, that was just him coming over to return _his_ pen,” House spoke over her. “He only ever uses one…so at this point, I don’t know who you both think you’re fooling.” Talia ran her knuckles over her forehead and let out a mini groan.

“Ah you know what - you’re just gonna give me hell for as long as I keep this up in front of you,” she muttered, both to herself and to him. “I’m gonna take a cab so you can stop crying about it.” She shot him a grimace before standing up and going to make the call in her room, whilst House just watched her leave and squinted his eyes, still struggling to properly figure her out. Why it was taking him so long, he had no idea.

He was usually _much_ better at this.

…

By the time Talia got into work and clocked in, everything was moving so quickly that she barely even had time to greet Chase properly, let alone _discuss_ anything between them. She wasn’t expecting work to be so fast paced so soon, but she wasn’t complaining - this is what she had always wanted and this is what she knew she was good at.

As soon as she got a free moment, though, she and Chase were finally able to have a few short minutes to themselves. “Thanks for the pen,” Talia spoke up as they walked together, side by side. Chase let out a little hum and sighed, suddenly stopping in his tracks. _That_ was never a good thing. Immediately, Talia felt an awful twisting notion in her stomach before Chase could even speak. “Oh god. Oh god you’re already thinking twice about this aren’t you?” she guessed with a knowing groan.

“What? _No_ , Talia I’m not," Chase frowned, twisting his mouth from side to side. “I’m just…in terms of your dad and his reaction-”

“Oh no. Don’t tell me you’re _scared_ of him?” Talia couldn’t help but laugh back in surprise, crossing her arms and cocking her head to the side in wonder. Chase rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to argue. “Noooo, Chase - I completely understand! 6’3 scary guy with a huge freaky cane and a miserable limp - I’d be _petrified_ too!”

“Alright I get it,” Chase grumbled, beginning to walk om again as she followed with a little smile playing at her lips. “I just don’t want him to treat me any differently just cos I’ve shown interest in his dau-”

"Won't be a problem. Look, I’ll even request that he treats you like as much of a bastard as everyone else, okay?” Talia compromised, making Chase smirk as he held the lab door open for her, where Cameron and Foreman were testing something. He was about to make his way over to them - but Talia placed a restrictive hand on his chest and he froze. “Don’t let this get in the way of your practice, doc. Wouldn’t want you slipping because of me,” she murmured to him under her breath, biting back a smile.

“You too, Dr. House Jr,” Chase hummed back as he darted his tongue over bottom lip. Talia’s eyes flew across his face as she bit her own lips in thought. Chase’s lips were just _so_ inviting-

“Ummm….are you guys done with your little catch up?" Cameron suddenly piped up with a little smirk, startling them both out of their moment together. Talia quickly tucked her hair behind her ear and straightened herself up, clearing her throat slightly.

"Sorry," Chase snapped himself out of it too as he briskly walked over to join Cameron and Foreman, peering at the test results. “Er…sorry, what exactly are we testing _for?_ ”

“As of right now? Not a damn thing. These are Dan's MRI results - you know the kid with night terrors?" Foreman filled them in. “As you can see - there's nothing there.”

"Speaking of night, how was yours and Chase’s?" Cameron whispered to Talia as the men attempted to decipher what empty results could mean. Talia couldn't stop herself from blushing ferociously.

“I wasn’t…we weren’t even with each other last night? We haven’t seen each other in like, three days,” she insisted, although unable to even look Cameron in the eye. “…Why? Are people in this wretched place speculating already just because two colleagues are-”

“ _No!_ No one is speculating…well, aside from me, which really isn’t my business,” Cameron grimaced, dropping her voice even lower. Talia shot her a little smile to imply that it was fine regardless, and Cameron immediately relaxed once she saw she wasn’t mad. “There’s just so much chemistry between you guys. It's kinda _impossible_ to miss."

“Well please encourage everyone to _try_ and miss it, cos I don’t wanna make it weird,” Talia winced.

“That means there is something _to_ make weird?” Cameron smirked again, nudging her side.

“There might be,” Talia admitted with an embarrassed giggle, as they got up and followed the men out into the corridor again.

…

"We did a CT, MRI, CBC, Chem-7 and chest x-ray. All those tests came back normal. There's nothing to explain his symptoms - I’m _officially_ stumped,” Foreman sighed in disappointment, pointing out each of the results to House in the office later on. House frowned, those lines in his forehead getting deeper by the second. Talia chewed on the tip of her pen and tried her hardest to focus to figure it out in silence.

"Okayyy, but let's pretend there's _something_ and go from there, cos now I want lunch. So! _Who_ sees something on this MRI?" he asked around. “Anyone, anyone at all!”

"No lesions and there's no white matter," Cameron sighed tiredly.

“Or any structural abnormalities," Foreman added in with a shrug.

“And definitely no space occupying tumours!” Talia muttered, chucking down her pen in defeat and leaning on her fist again.

“Alright look at it this way - the kid is _16_ , so he should have an absolutely _squeaky clean_ brain. The _smallest_ thing is abnormal..." House hinted as he perched himself on the desk.

"Meningeal enhancement. It…might be viral meningitis?” Chase suddenly concluded. Talia raised an eyebrow of surprise and glanced over to House for his reaction.

“ _Excellent_ work, Chase!” House exclaimed a little over-enthusiastically. Chase smiled and nodded smugly, clearly pleased with himself. Then Talia’s head recoiled.

“Excellent _try_ maybe - but there’s no _actual_ evidence of meningitis on that MRI," Talia pointed out in confusion, squinting a little closer at the screen. “Or…am I bugging?” Chase frowned and opened his mouth to argue, but House got beat him to it.

“Nope, you’re right and he's completely wrong," he muttered. Talia gave Chase the smallest of smug smirks across the desk and he stared back at her in shock.

"Then what was so ‘excellent’ about it?" Cameron sighed, knowing all too well that House was trying to make a point.

“Well that he knew that I saw something on the MRI and he took a wild shot, which is better than nothing. Although I'm guessing this is the good ol’ 'impress the dad' tactic. _Clever_ …but also kinda pathetic," House tutted, causing Talia to groan into her palms and sink deeper into her chair, showered with embarrassment - whilst Foreman and Cameron raised their eyebrows and shot matching looks at Chase as if to say _'I knew it!’_

Chase gulped and just ignored them, soldiering on regardless.

"So, what _did_ you find then, Riddler King?" Talia asked House as calmly as she could whilst narrowly avoiding everyone’s eye contact. But naturally, House stayed silent and waited for them to figure it out instead.

“Wait, there's some bowing - _there._ An upward arch, c’mon, that’s _definitely_ not normal!” Chase suddenly blurted out, still not giving up.

"Are you guessing, _son?_ ” House grumbled.

“….yeaaah?” Chase winced.

“Yikes - you're right," House replied.

"He probably just moved about, nobody stays perfectly still for their entire MRI unless they’re dead," Foreman argued back immediately.

“What, and shifted an entire _chunk_ of his brain? What the hell was he doing in there?” Talia challenged him back, causing House to look up at her and squint his eyes. “No, something must be pushing on it."

“Alright…if there's bowing it could be a _tumor?_ " Foreman continued to suggest.

"Do _you_ see a tumor on this MRI? Wouldn’t that be one of the _first_ things we’d see on this thing?” Talia blinked, not even trying to be argumentative - she was just baffled.

"No, but I don't see any _bowing_ , either," Foreman responded deliberately.

“That’s cos you’re not _cool._ There’s no tumor, just a blockage and that causes pressure, which then causes symptoms. Today night terrors, tomorrow he's bleeding out of his eye sockets - I’m hoping not to get to that tomorrow…today. Get the kid a radio-nucleotide cisternogram. No doubt you'll see a chunky friendly little blockage," House ordered them. They all immediately stood up and readied themselves to leave again. "Except you, blondie," House interrupted their movements. Both Talia and Chase froze and stared at him. “Oh silly me, the _male_ blondie," House quickly corrected himself. Although Talia lingered behind a little, clearly unsure, she eventually gave Chase a small smile that pretty much read 'good luck’ before she rushing out behind Cameron and Foreman.

Once the door closed, Chase shoved his hands into his coat pockets and cocked his head to the side.

"What's up?" he frowned.

“Oh I’m just being nosey. What’s going on between you and Talia?" House asked bluntly. Chase clenched his jaw and swallowed, praying he gave nothing away on his face.

"Nothing," he straight up lied.

“Right," House nodded quickly. "That's fine then, I was just checking - you can go now." Chase clicked his teeth and turned around to leave, but House stopped him. "Oh apart from one thing - _I don't_ _believe you._ "

“You never believe anyone,” Chase pointed out with a frown. “Everybody lies?”

“Well, that’s a fair point,” House murmured. “Still. Are you gonna answer me or are you gonna prance around the question like Billie Elliot meets Neighbours?”

“I _answered_ your question, and that should be enough. I don't need you to believe me," Chase retaliated defensively. "You might be _her_ dad but you're _certainly_ not mine.” House rolled his eyes and knocked his head back.

“Look. I don't care you _sleep_ with, I don't care you _speak_ to, I don't care _where_ you get your hair products and how often you wash those luscious locks - but if I have a whole future of you constantly kissing my _ass_ without even using your damn brain, it’s gonna get a little tedious for the both of us. And by both of us…I mean you,” he drawled loudly.

“What?! I’m not kissing anything - but even if I was, what’s the problem? I got all those answers right didn't I? I found the damn bowing?” Chase pointed out fairly, still trying his hardest to remain calm.

"Yeah through _GUESSING_. Before Talia came we didn't have this problem - you thought of things from your own brain, not this _impress daddy_ notion," House mocked with the quotation marks as his fingers. At that point, Chase could only scoff at him and shake his head. This was ridiculous, it wasn't even a solid treason that he was getting yelled at for. He guessed all the time, sometimes the answers were right, sometimes they were wrong - but _now_ it was an issue?

He just couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Talia wasn’t worth _this_ _much_ stress, was she?

“You know what - fine," Chase finally muttered out tiredly as he ran his fingers through his hair. “So what are you saying - that you don't want me anywhere near Talia _outside_ of work?"

House batted his eyelashes back at him mockingly.

"I don't know, Sherlock, am I?"

“Great, heard," Chase nodded bluntly. “Can I go now?” He waited a few moments for House’s answer, but after hearing nothing, turned on his heel and practically flew out of the room with his white coat billowing behind him. House stared at him as he left, amusedly contemplating whether or not _anything_ that he just said was a wise idea.

Guess he’d find out sooner or later.


	7. talia loses it

Chase bustled into Dan's ward where the others were running the tests House had told them to. His shoulders were tensed up, his jaw was clenched and there was pure fury in his eyes. Talia and Cameron noticed his irritable state almost immediately and they exchanged uncomfortable looks with each other. Talia bit her lip as she changed Dan's drip whilst he was fast asleep. "Is Chase okay?" Cameron murmured to her from beside her.

"My guess is _honestly_ as good as yours,” Talia muttered back as she secured the IV with the fabric tape. Chase overheard their words, but still made sure to narrowly avoid their eye contact as he focussed on the screen monitoring Dan's brain progress.

"Doing well so far," he suddenly spoke to the women monotonously and clearly, his eyes still fixed firmly on the screen. Talia took the chance to slide across the floor to where he stood instead, pulling to the side, much to his annoyance. Her normally endearing persistence was the very last thing he needed today.

"What did he say to you?" she whispered as discreetly as possible.

"Nothing worth repeating. Don’t worry about it, Talia - it’s done,” Chase dismissed her under his breath. He cleared his throat and addressed the room again. “Still waiting on a spike from night terrors-”

“Chase, I said _what did he say?_ " Talia hissed over his words. Cameron winced and tried her hardest to ignore.

“ _Talia_ , do you mind? I need to get these results accurate and more to the point, you should be _watching_ _me_ do it," Chase reminded her with his eyes still trained on the screen. Talia ignored his tone and continued on - her persistence never ever wavered.

"You don't _need_ to monitor anything yet, because the progress gets printed, that's when they’re most clear, right Chase? I may be _new_ _here_ but I’m not an idiot, and I still went to med school and got my degree. So, for the last time, and _I really do_ mean the last time, what, did House, _say?_ " she asked one more time, her voice now singed with a hint of anger. Chase glanced up into her beautiful stormy grey eyes and saw her plea.

He couldn’t do that to her.

"He said…he said I was kissing up to him and he doesn’t want me seeing you outside of work," he finally admitted, now turning his entire body away from the machine. Talia’s face fell in disappointment before it could harden in annoyance, trying to process all those words in one go.

“That _absolute_ son of a-"

“But…maybe he’s right, Talia," Chase began hesitantly. Talia’s mouth opened to protest, but all she managed to release was a little noise of disbelief. “Maybe this… _us_ …is gonna do more harm than good. We haven’t even been on an actual _date_ yet and he’s _already_ on my ass for it. I just can’t-”

“ _‘Maybe he’s right?’_ I’m sorry - do you guys just bark like a dog every time House says ‘here boy’?” Talia scoffed, squinting her eyes at him. “I know the man has a hold on everyone in this hospital but come _on._ ” Chase sighed and shook his head with a shrug. He looked defeated.

“He’s my _boss_ , Talia - and I respect him. He’s your _dad_ after all, so maybe-”

“So maybe _what?_ We should just sit back like told off kids and let it run?” Talia argued back quietly in disgust. “Do you _honestly_ think he's right? Is that _really_ what you were doing? Sucking up to him cos he’s my father?”

“No, I really wasn’t. I honestly guess like that all the time - or so I thought I did,” Chase grunted, now confused at his own actions.

"Then he's wrong. You might think that man’s untouchable, but he’s definitely not,” Talia muttered over the beeping of the machine, signalling it’s completion.

…

House was stood in Cuddy's office with Wilson arguing about something or another as they always did. But _that_ was about to change.

Talia couldn’t even be bothered to knock, she just barged straight in. "Are you trying to make my life a living hell already?!” Talia hissed viciously to House, startling both Cuddy and Wilson. Cuddy sighed and threw her head back in exasperation - _this_ is what she wasn’t looking forward to experiencing with _two_ House’s in the building.

“Ummm…you’re _gonna_ have to specify,” House challenged her, even though he knew full well what this was about.

“I don’t need to specify _anything_ , you know exactly what you did!” Talia argued back bitterly, her voice still steady but her eyes raging. Wilson blinked over at her, totally lost.

"Well _we_ don't?" he reminded her.

“Dare we even ask?” Cuddy murmured under her breath.

“Your _pal_ here told Chase to ‘stay away from me’ outside of the hospital grounds - I’m _25_ , by the way,” Talia informed them in a rage, before turning back around to face her father.

 _"House,"_ Cuddy gave a drawn out sigh. “You _can’t_ control what happens outside of hospital grounds-”

“Hey now! I didn’t control _anything,_ ” House corrected her with a risen finger, “I simply pointed out that things would get tedious because tedious things make me bored. And boy oh boy was I right because right now - I _am_ bored _,_ bored indeed.” Cuddy rolled her eyes and Wilson pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut in nothing but secondhand embarrassment - whilst Talia shook her head and refused to tear her eyes away from his once. She certainly wasn’t intimidated.

“House, I _respect_ you, as both my boss and my newly labelled _father_. But I’m putting a stop to this _now._ I didn't run away from _one_ controlling parent to be met with another. I’m old enough to know how to split a colleague at work from something casual outside of it. And _whilst_ we’re here, do me a favour and _stop_ treating me like one of your patients? I know you’re trying to figure me out, I see it in your eyes every time you look my way. I don’t know if you’re trying to push me to see how far I go before I snap at you, but I’m not gonna let you get to me. So if this is a game, _Dad_ \- then let’s play."

Talia said her entire piece all in one breath and when she was done, shot the rest of the room a stiff smile and left without another word. House said nothing either - he simply bent his head and studied the carpet in thought as Cuddy and Wilson stared at the closed door, their mouthes partially open in shock.

…

Later that evening, Talia strolled down the hallway which was clearing out for the night, her mind nothing but a miserable blur. She never got what she wanted with her mum, she was incredibly controlling, even _before_ she fell sick - so for House to even attempt to take away something away that made her happy within two weeks of her being with him was total deja vu.

The misery in her heart meant that she wasn't even focussing on where she was going keeping her eyes on her feet, analysing each click of her shoes as they made contact with the polished squeaky-clean floor. Suddenly, an arm snaked around her waist and pulled her into a nearby wall, _just_ as a large mechanical floor polisher swept by in the same route that Talia was walking toward. The shock of nearly being soapily pulverised on top of the whole ‘Chase vs House' situation was enough to send her into a full on panic attack, so she turned to thank her saviour - surprised to find that it was Chase himself. He was peering at her with concerned eyes. “Talia, are you okay?" he frowned quietly.

“I’m f-fine, thank you," Talia panted shakily, trying to get her heartbeat back to normal and straighten herself up. “I mean, thank you for saving me just now.”

“No problem," Chase mumbled back. "I wasn't swinging you to the side because of the _cleaner_ , though - more-so your entire persona. You look….awful."

“Wow. Cheers, Chase," Talia muttered sarcastically, running her hands through her hair.

“No, I just think you-” Chase began with a sigh.

But then he stopped.

“Oh god. You spoke to House, didn't you?"

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t,” Talia sniffed carelessly. Chase let out a groan and slammed his hands over his face.

“So…what did you say? And what did _he_ say? Do you even still _work_ here anymore?” Talia rolled her eyes at his question and rubbed her nose.

“What was he gonna do - _fire me?_ No, I just told him that I didn’t run from one controlling parent just to go straight into the arms of another,” Talia summed it up. Chase gave a slow nod, chewing his bottom lip as he waited for the rest of it.

But, as Talia didn't continue, he blinked at her in shock.

"What, _that's it?_ Well, that’s not _half_ as bad-"

"Wilson and Cuddy were there," Talia spoke over him loudly. That’s when Chase’s face faded from calm, into one full of tension.

"Oh _dear lord_ ," he groaned, slamming his head into the wall closest to him. "They must have _loved_ that."

"Yeah I _realise_ that was a dumb thing to do now," Talia sighed, before covering her face with her hands as well. "It was _stupid_ of me. To challenge my boss in front of _his_ boss - I do dumb sh*t without thinking allll the time,” came her muffled voice of regret from behind her palms.

"Ya think?” Chase murmured as his own eyes squeezed shut.

"Chase, help me," Talia mumbled, shifting her hands from her eyeline as she appealed to him. "What do I do?"

"Ummm, get down on both knees and either apologise and cry…or both?" Chase guessed with a shrug. “I mean, that’s what I’d do.” Before Talia could either agree or disagree, she suddenly overheard the steady footsteps accompanied by not so steady footsteps from down the hallway - and knew exactly who it was.

This was her chance.

“That’s them coming down the hallway now! I have to go and intercept,” she hissed to Chase with widened eyes.

“Fine. Aren't you working lates tonight?" Chase whispered back.

"Well if you are, I am, cos I'm shadowing you remember? Just wait for me here, okay?" Talia murmured. Chase nodded in response and squeezed her shoulder for good luck, before she quickly rushed round the corner to come face to face with-

“Oh! _Lookie_ here, it's Little Miss _Sunshine_ ," House beamed sarcastically to Wilson. “Here to rain on us with her happiness and-”

 _"I'm sorry,"_ Talia blurted out before he could finish his analogy. House closed his mouth and leaned on his cane in amusement. “I shouldn’t have said all of that with an audience. I was just really upset because Mum is the one that always took all the good stuff away from me, first my profession and then everything else…and I never had the guts to tell her otherwise and now I’ve finally told _you_ otherwise and I thought I would feel satisfied but really I feel _awful_ because although I _technically_ said nothing wrong, Uncle Wilson and Cuddy were there and it must have been _super_ embarrassing for you and-"

“OH for the love of _any god,_ please stop talking before my ears bleed into my _shoes_ ,” House interrupted with a lazily risen hand, causing Talia to close her mouth and nod obediently. "If I'm being _completely_ honest I kinda zoned out after the word 'I'm'. But I'm _guessing_ this is an apology, which technically isn't wanted but _is_ always appreciated. I love a good apology, they make me feel superior. So in a round about way, I forgive you, _young mortal._ You may now get up off the floor.” Talia stared at House in surprise, totally taken aback.

"Uhhh… _thanks?_ " she blinked, before politely stepping aside so he and Wilson could carry on walking past her. As they moved on down the hallway, Wilson turned to his old friend, also in pure confusion.

"I'm sorry - did she just call me _'Uncle Wilson'?_ " he hissed as they made their way out of the hospital and out into the car park.

 _"Yup!"_ House confirmed brightly. “Aren’t kids just _adorable?_ ”

“Um… _no_ cos that’s one step away from ‘Daddy’," Wilson muttered under his breath.

“Well I sure _hope_ she doesn’t end up calling you daddy, or else I'll be forced to take _serious_ legal action," House winced. Meanwhile, Talia watched them leave before slowly making her way back to Chase. She looked so stressed, dazed and relieved at the same time, that Chase felt he had no choice but to open up his arms so that she could automatically fall into them for a hug, his arms wrapping around her as soon as her cheek hit his collarbone.

She felt so comfortable there that she almost didn’t want to let go - but she had to, because _that_ would be weird, right?


	8. night shifts

"He's not in here!” Chase groaned, peering into Cuddy’s large and empty office. He and Talia were still working nights, but neither one of them had noticed that Dan, the kid with the night terrors, had somehow escaped his room without them seeing, and now the entire hospital was on high alert. Was hardly the best start to a job on Talia’s part.

“Come on, T. _Think._ Where the hell has he gone?" Talia muttered to herself, her hands on her forehead as she paced up and down the polished floors. She was desperately trying to put herself in his position instead, it was the only way she could get an answer. “If I were him, where’s the first place I would visit? I’m a teenage boy and I’m losing my sh*t…where do I go-”

"Talia there’s seriously _no_ time for that now!” Chase exclaimed, running over to where she stood in a panic. “Have you called your dad?"

“Yeah of _course_ I did - he never picked up which must mean he's coming," Talia murmured out distractedly, still not focussing on him.

Then suddenly, her eyes lit up in realisation.

"The kid plays sports, right?”

"Yeah," Chase nodded, now interested after seeing the sudden change in tone. “Why? What are you thinking?”

“I don’t think it’s a night terror, cos he’s up and walking. It’s a hallucination - and hallucinations are always based on _something_ , right? That something is probably sports, cos you know, ‘sport is life’. Well, what do you do in a match or at practice…you go up the stairs as your coach is revving you up, then out somewhere big enough to be a playing field…” Talia's eyes suddenly flew open again. “Chase…” she murmured, grabbing his arm, “…the roof." Chase bolted off so quickly that Talia had to blink a few times before hurriedly running after him. They met Foreman and Cameron on the way, her heart racing from all the adrenaline, and they all burst through the fire escape doors and straight onto the roof.

And sure enough, there the teen was, standing on the edge of the roof and staring blankly down onto the carpark below.

“Ohhhhh my _god_ ,” Talia breathed out shakily, clamping her hand over her mouth.

" _DAN?_ Dan, you're not on the playing field, you're on the roof!" Chase was shouting frantically. Talia felt her heart drop into the pits of her stomach. Surely this _couldn't_ end well. Foreman began to move forward to interject, but Chase have him the 'not now' sign. Suddenly, Dan took half a step off.

_"CHASE!"_ Talia and Cameron suddenly screamed as Chase tackled him to the roof floor.

….

“Chase, could you, like, _never_ do that again?” Talia sniffed as the group reconvened an hour or so later, her heart still pounding from the shock as she sipped on her tea. Chase gave her a small sympathetic smile as she leaned across and pressed a kiss to his cheek, just as House strolled in. He hobbled in just in time to see the kiss, and shuddered to himself in both genuine and mock disgust.

“So! Has anyone told the family that their boy nearly fell off the roof? They must be beyond thrilled," he began, settling himself down at the head of the table.

“Thrilled? We’re lucky they’re not suing - but even then I think it’s only cos Chase asked them not to," Cameron mumbled, shaking her head in surprise.

“Robert Chase saves the day again," Talia smirked under her breath, making Chase threw her a ghost of a wink back. Of course House happened to catch that too. He rolled his eyes and shuddered again.

" _Whoop de Doo_ for the Australian Jesus," he waved them off. “But seriously - _why_ does everyone think I'm being sarcastic?”

“Because it’s your bloody default setting and has been from the start?” Talia blinked back at him. House cocked his head to the side for a few seconds before nodding.

“Fair point. But I _mean_ the parents must be happy because their son clearly does not have MS! Is that not completely _party worthy?_ ” he trudged on.

"I'm sorry, _why_ doesn't he have MS?" Foreman interrupted him with a frown.

“Junior?” House opened the floor to her instead. Talia straightened herself up and briefly ran her tongue over her lips before answering.

“ _Because_ he was hallucinating that he was on a field, meaning it couldn’t have been a night terror, meaning it’s not MS,” she responded, half confidently and half under pressure at the fact that all eyes were on her.

“Correct! Excellent work, one gold star!” House clicked his fingers in her direction. Talia’s cheeks flushed red and she kept her eyes focussed on her hands. “You want some of this?" House suddenly offered to Chase, hinting to the coffee he was making himself. The room fell quiet as Foreman, Cameron and Talia waited for his answer with baffled looks on their faces.

“Um…sure?” Chase shrugged, glancing at Talia who held her hands up in a ‘don’t look at me’ motion.

“So if not MS…then…?” Cameron trailed off curiously, although she was also intrigued by House's good gestures toward Chase. “The bands were real but if they’re not signalling MS, then what are they doing?”

"Well they tell us the immune system is working-” Chase just threw it out there.

“What was that, that he has an infection in his brain? Correct, nice _WORK_ Dr. Chase!” This time, the group’s mouthes literally hung open as House even went in for a high five - but dropped his hand again by the time Chase got over the confusion enough to actually high five him back. "What, are you all _shocked_ at the _‘uber enthusiastic dad tries to be all pally with his daughter's boyfriend'_ role that I decided to try out? I thought I did well!” He shot a knowing glance over at Talia and she rolled her eyes and bit down her jaw, knowing exactly what point he was trying to prove.

“He’s not my boyf- ah. I get it. _Very good,_ House,” she sighed, twirling her pen around her fingers. Obviously group didn’t what she was trying to say but House certainly did, and that in itself was satisfactory.

“So! To recap - get the kid a lumbar puncture and start treating him for infection,” he ordered the team, watching them as they walked out.

…

The team started to give Dan his treatment a few minutes later. Chase was in charge of heading it whilst Cameron and Talia remained at the head of the bed, one on either side of him. It was evident that Dan was still in an excruciating amount of pain, so Chase tried to think of the best way to distract him. "Hey Dan," he began slowly, getting his attention. “Isn't Dr Cameron's necklace cool? Something South African, if I remember correctly.” Talia rolled her eyes and shook her head. She immediately caught onto what he was doing and was feeling rather unimpressed by it all.

“No, it’s from-” Cameron began to answer - before glancing down and seeing where exactly her necklace sat comfortably on her body. Breasts. _“Really?”_

“I mean it's a cool necklace," Dan agreed with his eyebrows risen.

"Thanks," Cameron beamed through gritted teeth, before shooting Chase a glare across the bed.

"The kid's in _pain,_ " Chase shrugged back at her nonchalantly.

"But Talia's _right there_ and she has a _much_ better looking chest than I do," Cameron hissed, whilst Talia raised a dark eyebrow from where she was studying Dan’s charts. “I cannot even _believe_ I’m selling out another woman to be a sex pawn, so I’m sorry for that Talia.”

“Hey. I was a model _before_ I was a doctor, Cameron,” Talia reminded her under her breath without looking up. “So sadly, I’m used to it.”

“Plus, there's one difference between you and Talia," Chase smirked slightly, successfully finishing the administration. Talia snapped the folder shut to look over at him.

"Which is what?" both the women scoffed simultaneously.

"Talia's seeing someone," Chase murmured, raising both his eyebrows. Talia couldn't help but blush at his words and Cameron opened her mouth to respond, when-

_"No,"_ Dan suddenly spoke shakily.

"No what?" Chase frowned at him. But Dan didn’t respond.

_"Dan?"_ Talia called out to him clearly, whilst grabbing her small pocket torch and shining them into his eyes. There was no response there, either - and now it was worrying. "Dan are you alright? Can you hear us?” Talia quickly tried again.

Suddenly, Dan’s entire body started violently shaking and seizing and Talia and Cameron jumped into action, securing him in place before he jolted all the way off the bed.

"Push three milligrams of IV, stat!" Chase exclaimed, now rushing about as the nurses flew in.

"Come on Dan! _Come on!_ ” Talia groaned under her breath as they both attempted to bring him back around.

This was a lot to handle in one full shift - but it was the job, and as it stood, she was still thankful for it.

It was about to get a lot harder, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short - the next one will make up for it, I promise! My original story had so many faults in it, rewriting it is harder than it looks LMAOOO


	9. maternity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: chapter includes the topic of child loss - if that is a sensitive subject for you, please skip it out x

Being a doctor on House’s team was bizarre. It would be total panic and carnage and then suddenly - House would come up with an answer and everything would be solved. Talia was shattered after her first full day and a half alone, and Dan was only one patient. Yes, 27 hour shifts were normal but this was her _first_ one, and her tiredness was already transitioning into stress - although she didn’t complain once. But House could see it regardless, so he sent her home, not listening to anything she said to try and convince him that she was absolutely fine.

She may have been stubborn - but she got it from _somewhere._

It went on like that for a good three weeks or so. Long shifts, risky decisions, and she was learning more about how the team worked. As much as she and Foreman started off on the wrong foot, they worked well together. Not necessarily side by side, but they bounced ideas off each other well enough - despite not _necessarily_ liking each other. Foreman viewed her as a ‘slightly more tolerable’ version of House. Talia and Cameron gelled well together, as Cuddy readily assumed they would - whilst Chase and Talia hadn’t even had the time to have their first date yet since they were so busy.

This morning in particular, a tired Talia stepped into the office to see Chase falling asleep on a chair whilst the others made themselves coffee - Cuddy included. “Oh! Nice of you to grace us with your presence!" House waved his cane in Talia’s direction.

“Morning to you too, House,” she muttered back sleepily, wrapping her arms around Chase’s neck from behind as a greeting, which woke him up with a start.

“God. Do I have to put a ban on this _again?_ ” House grumbled as he yanked the lids off his whiteboard markers.

“House, give them a _break,_ ” Cuddy muttered, rolling her eyes at as Chase gave Talia’s arms a little squeeze back. “I know you’re not _familiar_ with the idea, but this is what young love looks like?” It was incredible how a few words could cause two people to freeze.

_"Love?"_ Chase spluttered, startling himself awake. “Um, we haven’t even-”

"And yet if I did that to _you,_ it would go down as harassment," House murmured to Cuddy whilst ignoring Chase’s protests. He tapped the whiteboard with his pen. " _So!_ _Three_ sick babies, the _fourth_ showing early symptoms of also…well, being sick. Go!”

“Wait, babies? How bad?" Talia asked quickly, also abruptly waking up, whilst unwrapping her arms from Chase and settling herself down on a chair.

"Spiking fever…” Chase began.

"And their BP is plummeting. If they continue like this they’ll…be dead within a day," Foreman concluded with a small sigh. A feeling of nausea washed over Talia before she could stop it. The team were still talking around her but she had to go. The air became stuffy and her face went a sickly pale colour - if she didn’t move now, she would be spewing all over the table.

Now _that_ would be embarrassing.

“Um…excuse me," she managed to splutter out before speedily dashing out of the room. House cocked an amused eyebrow and watched her go, before redirecting his attention to Chase, who was clearly just _itching_ to go after her.

"Wait," House sighed in boredom. "We'll start them on Vancomycin for the MRSA and Aztreonam for everything else. Get MRIs, check for abscesses or some weird infection." Nobody moved. " _This_ is when half of you do the job and the other half runs after her. And when I say other half, I mean the _blonde_ other half.” Chase leapt up immediately to go searching. But he didn’t need to look far - she was just down the hallway, pressed up against a wall.

“Talia?" he muttered out to her awkwardly. “You okay?” Talia glanced up and nodded.

“I just needed some air…still a bit tired,” she lied quietly. "What did House tell you to do for the babies?"

“To start treating them for everything and give them an MRI...I don’t suppose you wanted to do it with me?" Chase suggested tenderly, aware that she was delicate. But Talia sniffed and looked away from him, shaking her head.

“I can’t," she whispered hoarsely. “I…I have clinic duty.”

_“Clinic duty?”_ Chase repeated as his head jerked back in surprise. “But I’m not-”

“I’m covering for House - think Cuddy’s too stressed to tell me otherwise,” Talia explained, before shooting him a brief apologetic smile and leaving him standing there, more confused than ever.

….

An hour later, House met Chase as he was making his way back to the office with the MRI results clutched in his hand. "Did you find out what was going on?" House asked automatically, walking directly beside him.

"Well not really…the _scans_ reveal-"

"I meant with Talia, genius,” House interrupted. Chase couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows at House’s concern, but quickly shook his head in response.

“Um no…actually she was even weirder once I managed to grab her," he admitted as they walked into the office. "I have no idea what’s going on but I’m not gonna push it. She’s probably just feeling overwhel-”

“I'm saying the average miscarriage…stillbirth… _something_ to do with an inactive foetus,” House murmured, hobbling his way over to his desk. Chase’s nose crinkled up in confusion.

" _What?_ But we haven’t even-”

"Not with _you_ , moron. _Clearly_ you haven’t had sex, if you _had_ , you’d both be _even_ _more_ insufferable than you already are. I mean _before_ you. This whole _baby_ thing must be some kinda trigger for her," House spelt it out for him. Chase rolled his eyes and threw his head back.

“House _._ Didn’t she tell you not to do this?” he murmured.

“Do _what_ , Riddler King?”

“Try and figure her out like she’s some kinda puzzle? Even if she _did_ miscarry, I doubt she’d want you guessing the details like there’s a prize at stake,” Chase hissed. “I _get_ that you still don’t know much about her, but this _isn’t_ how you go about finding out.” Chase left House standing there and made his way over to the conference table where Foreman and Cameron were sitting already. Talia was silently standing alone at the other side of the room, twirling her pen in her fingers, looking thoughtful - but distant. She hadn’t even noticed that Chase had walked in.

“So the _antibiotics_ did it to the babies," Foreman sighed to them. "But which one did it? _Please_ don’t tell me they can both cause this?"

"Yes they both _can_ and there's no test we can take to tell which one did," Chase answered grimly. “So…we take our best guess." House took a deep breath in through his nose.

“ _Nope!_ No point in guessing," he told them. “That creates a bigger risk than there needs to be. Take one off one Aztreonam in Foreman’s name and the other off vancomycin in Cameron's."

_That_ sure as hell brought Talia back into the room.

“Sorry?" she frowned, that being the first thing she’d said since arriving.

"Wait, they have the _same_ disease but you want to give them _different_ treatment?" Chase scoffed in disgust.

“House, that’s _so_ wrong,” Foreman added in furiously.

“That is _insane_ ,” Cameron stressed with her head in her hands.

“ _You_ say insane, _I_ say a _therapeutic trial to find the cause of infection_ ," House stated brightly. “Tomato tamata!”

"House, _no!_ " Talia exclaimed, not caring that all eyes were on her again. “THEY’RE BABIES! Are you _really_ willing to kill one of them?" There was a large pause.

“Yup. I guess I am. Chop chop!” House finally concluded before hobbling out. At that point, Talia felt _so_ nauseous that she had physically to cover her mouth with her hand and rush out of the room again. This time Chase _had_ to run after her, because he had a feeling that House was right. Something was _definitely_ triggering her.

"Talia," he began loudly, making her spin around with a face like fire. “Seriously, what's going _on_ with you today? Are you sick?”

“Chase, I don’t want to discuss it, so _please_ don’t make me," she pleaded him.

"I won’t. It’s not my business,” Chase replied in the calmest way possible. “But you've gotta stay with it. This is when our job _sucks_ , but we have to carry on. People _die_ if we don’t.” That was a fact, and Talia knew it. In fact, at that point she felt weak for crumbling like that in the first place.

So she pulled herself together and nodded.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m being stupid,” she muttered under her breath. “Let's get back to it.” Before Chase could say anything else, she started marching down the corridor again, but by the time he caught up with her, she had already been stopped by the one of the baby's parents outside NICU - so he walked in without her.

"Is she getting any better?" the mother, Mrs Hartig, was asking Talia anxiously.

“As far as I know, her fever has been stable for the last hour," Talia told her comfortingly. But her assurance didn’t seem to make much difference.

“She’s not gonna make it, is she?" Mrs Hartig whispered as her eyes welled up with tears.

“Oh Mrs Hartig, _please_ don’t say that. You never know-” Talia began - but was suddenly interrupted by loud beeping noises and commotion taking place around the incubator in the NICU. They skidded inside just in time to see Chase injecting the baby with something as the nurses started frantically checking for a pulse.

“Ohhhh god, is my baby _dying?_ " Mrs Hartig sobbed, her hand clutched to her chest. Talia opened her mouth to answer - but she couldn’t.

"Mrs Hartig!” Chase called to her a little distractedly. “Please get out of here! Talia, get her out of here!” But Talia was frozen. She watched on in horror, rooted to the spot as the nurse attempted to push Mrs Hartig out of the room instead, her heartbroken wails distracting everyone. “Mrs Hartig, _it’s not your baby!_ " Chase shouted at her without looking up. All Talia could do was watch Chase try everything within his power to get the baby’s heart to restart, whilst vaguely hearing House, Cameron, Wilson, and Foreman rush in behind her.

“C’mon, Chase, _save her,_ " Talia whispered under her breath.

"We're loosing pulse!" Cameron exclaimed with a panic. "V fib!”

"Shut the blinds!” Wilson demanded to the nurses as he prepared the defibrillator.

"Come on bubba, come back to us,” Talia breathed weakly, clutching her stomach as her head began to feel faint.

"Charging... _CLEAR!_ " Chase shouted as he desperately attempted to restart the pulse. Nothing happened and Talia let out a dry sob, whilst House did nothing but stare at her. "Charging... _CLEAR!_ Charging... _CLEAR!_ "

Nothing.

"Chase," House murmured, somewhat gently. "Time of death...6:57pm." There was a long pause in which was only filled with Talia’s broken sniffs. "Aztreonam doesn't work. Double-cover all the other babies with vancomycin."

"I'll do it," Chase murmured quietly but firmly, leaving the room without even glancing at the distraught Talia. She could almost feel the tension radiating off of him as he passed her.

"Cameron, go tell the parents that their baby probably saved around five other babies lives," House muttered.

“I…I can do it," Talia offered up croakily, feeling quite useless.

"Yeah cos you're _totally_ in the position to do that," House grunted. "Cameron, _go_. _You_ , come with me.” Cameron swept out of the room with Wilson whilst Foreman finished up in the NICU. House simply limped out of the unit with an embarrassed Talia following suit.

“Well, _you_ can certainly be dramatic,” House’s dry drawl suddenly sliced through the air.

“My shift is up, I’m going home-” Talia sniffed, ignoring his quips. House sighed and stopped walking, slamming his cane in front of her so that she stopped too.

“What the hell _was_ that? Why were you so angry at the diagnosis? It’s been three weeks and _now_ you’re cracking, why? Why is this such a trigger?”

“House, it’s _none_ of your business, and I _specifically_ told you not to treat me this way!” Talia hissed just as Chase claimed she would. But all House had to do was stare at her, and she folded under the pressure. She’d master it one day, but today she was too weak. “I had a miscarriage once but I still had to give birth to him. Satisfied? I’m going home-”

" _Wow_ , I _am_ good," House muttered, as the pieces of the puzzle started to fit as he knew they would. Talia glared at him in blatant disgust and folded her arms, tearing her eyes away from his. “Although, I would’ve thought you were too young-”

"I'm 25," Talia frowned. "That's _hardly_ puberty.”

"You're 25 but if you were _still_ romantically linked with anyone you wouldn't have run from _mommy_ to live with _daddy_ …you would’ve gone to _them_ instead, which means the baby was conceived at a much younger age," House murmured under his breath, looking her up and down. Talia let out an irritated sigh, just wanting this entire day to be over already.

“You know, I used to find it _cool_ when you did that - here we are almost a _month later_ and I just find it _annoying_ ," she hissed to him.

“Only a month? Well…you’ve lasted longer than most," House waved her off. “How old? 16?”

“17, close to my 18th birthday," Talia answered bluntly. But of _course_ , House wasn't done.

"And the fact that you were clearly trying to avoid it means that it there was a traumatic experience attached…” he trailed off. Talia bit down on her jaw and attempted to keep a calm demeanour, but she felt herself breaking.

She _really_ was.

"It wasn't non consensual or anything," she sniffed as her hands started to tremble. "It was just an… _unpleasant_ relationship with the father."

“Hm. Have you told your beloved _Dr Chase_ all this?" House mentioned with a risen brow. “Cos he likes to throw fits when he’s left out. Common symptom of ‘spoilt white rich kid syndrome’-”

“Nope, cos Chase doesn’t need to know,” Talia said through gritted teeth, slipping off her doctors coat and making her way down the hallway again.

“You know he tried his best back there?” House pointed out as he hobbled after her, even though sticking up for anyone, wasn't an everyday thing for him. Talia spun round again.

“I don’t deny that, House - but his best still cost him a life. That’s the f*cked up thing about my dream job,” she snapped back, “no matter how hard you try, your best might just not be good enough. That’s _scary._ ”

“You _do know_ that ultimately it wasn't even down to him? It was the medication," House continued, his voice taking over her own words.

"Ah yes, how could I forget - the medication that _you_ kept the baby on! Who was against that again?” Talia finally frowned in mock wonder. “Oh wait!”

“Ohhhhh Talia get your head outta the clouds or _get out_ this profession! You can't blame people for taking risks in a damn hospital, it’s what we do!”

“I’m aware. Life is a big risk in itself, but if I wanted the risk intensified, the last place I’d think of coming is to a _hospital_ ,” Talia sniffed quietly, walking into the cloakroom and grabbing her jacket and her bag. “At least give me time to adjust.”

“Adjust in your own time. The case isn’t done yet,” House grumbled.

“Dr. Cuddy told me earlier that if it get’s too heavy for me, I can leave,” Talia told him lowly. The mention of Cuddy’s name alone just agitated House even more. He _hated_ her tampering with his team.

“You can't just run away like this every single time-” he started - but Talia just rolled her eyes, zipped up her coat and stepped outside into the heavy rain without another word.


	10. damned if you do

It was safe to say that the last case had affected Talia badly. It took two days to solve, so she spent most of her time off alone in her room, only briefly popping out for food and for the bathroom. She didn’t even talk to House when he was home because she genuinely had nothing to say. She was just trying to forget everything about that horrific afternoon - and now she was reconsidering her place in the medical field on a whole.

Perhaps it wasn’t the profession for her after all. Perhaps she really just _should_ have been a model. Perhaps her beloved mother was right…maybe she just wasn’t cut out for this.

But Cuddy wasn’t going to let go of her that easily. In fact, it was only because Cuddy empathised with her on the phone, particularly with it being her first time in a traumatic case, that Talia had the strength to return. The rest of the team had already assumed from her reaction that she’d walked for good - House included.

So, when she walked into House’s office a few days later, the reactions were all mixed. House’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, Cameron gave her a warm smile, Foreman shot her a polite nod and Chase did…nothing. Therefore Talia smiled back at Cameron, gave Foreman a friendly nod back and, since Chase did nothing to her, she returned the favour.

_Why_ he was icing her out - she had no idea.

“Welcome back sunshine!” House announced, chucking her patient file. Talia caught it and immediately started flicking through as House continued the diagnosis with the others, not wanting to speak. “Okay! _So_ , to recap - I didn't screw up. Start the Sister on prednisone and get her a CT chest scan.”

" _Sister?"_ Chase suddenly piped up with a frown.

“What, you got more family in town?” Cameron blinked at House amusedly.

“ _God_ , no _._ The patient's a nun, bless her sweet soul,” House drawled, stirring his coffee.

“Great. I _hate_ nuns," Chase grumbled under his breath.

“Wow. A Brit who hates dying babies and her Aussie lover who hates living nuns…let me know when you need walking down the aisle,” House murmured in an embarrassed Talia’s direction. She covered her face with the file as Chase rolled his eyes.

_“What do you want us to do, House?”_ he asked clearly.

“Junior here can do the prednisone and the rest of you - get to CT’ing!” House decided.

“Alone? Isn’t she meant to be shadowing Chase?” Foreman pointed out, either in genuine confusion or to cause trouble - it was unclear which.

“Really? You _honestly_ think they’re friends ATM?” House whispered back sarcastically. Chase clenched his jaw whilst Talia sucked in her cheeks with a wince. “It’s just _prednisone._ He doesn’t need to hold her hand.” Talia nodded and left the office with the rest, but decided to awkwardly trudge behind them as they made their way to Sister Augustine’s ward.

But whilst the guys walked ahead - Cameron hung behind so that she and Talia were together.

“Hey! How are you feeling? We missed you like _crazy_ down here!” Cameron murmured, nudging her side slightly. Talia just shrugged in response, running her fingers through her long blonde wavy locks.

It was a broad question. How _was_ she feeling?

“I’m…I'm okay. Thanks for asking. How were the other babies? Cuddy didn’t-”

“They both made it home in perfect health," Cameron assured her comfortingly, which made her warm up. “I thought you would’ve asked House already.”

“I _live_ with House - but I don’t really speak to him,” Talia admitted. “We hardl-”

“Is everything okay with you and Chase?" Cameron suddenly whispered, ruining the moment. Talia stopped walking abruptly and turned to blink at her curious co-worker.

“Why? What has he said?"

“Nothing…well, we asked him how things were going with you yesterday and he just kinda snapped at us… told us to ‘mind our business’, which he usually only says if something’s gone bad,” Cameron murmured lowly, before disappearing into the nun’s room with the others. A frown fell on Talia’s face as she briefly considered Cameron’s words. She was baffled as to why Chase would think that something had ‘gone bad’ when she hadn’t even spoken to him since her mini-breakdown.

Regardless, she shook it off and strolled into the room.

"I'm Dr Cameron, that's Dr Talia, that's Dr Chase and that's Dr Foreman," Cameron was introducing them politely. “We’re going to take care of you.” Talia smiled to herself at the mention of her name as she went to change the Sister’s drip. The fact that she had to go by her first name to avoid confusion with House was bizarre in itself - but not as bizarre as actually having ‘Doctor’ there in the first place.

It had been almost a month, but it was still beautifully foreign.

“God bless you all. You know, I…I haven't watched television in over _twenty years,_ " Sister Augustine told them wistfully, staring up at the flickering pictures above her as if they were magical.

“Yeah? Work of Satan or just bad signal in the monastery?” Chase muttered, much to everyone’s surprise.

_"Chase!"_ Talia hissed as Cameron frowned at him disapprovingly. But Chase didn't even look up at Talia - let alone register her scolding.

It was getting weird.

Talia ran her tongue over her pearly white teeth and took a calming breath in through her nose, before turning her attention back to the Sister.

“How are you doing, Sister?" she questioned her warmly.

“She’s fine, thank you doctor,” another Sister answered briskly before Sister Augustine could even try. “What are you giving her now?”

“This is prednisone. It’ll bring down any inflammation,” Talia explained smoothly to keep her calm. “We’ll work with that first and hopefully get some answers from there.”

“Answers? So Dr House hasn’t figured out what's wrong with me yet?" Sister Augustine asked back worriedly, looking directly into Talia’s pretty eyes.

"Not yet Sister – but we'll get you a CT scan later on to help diagnose you. We’re gonna do our very best to get you fit and well again, I promise,” Talia assured her warmly.

But her kindness seemed to make all of _zero_ difference to the nuns surrounding her.

"So she’s basically being treated with no idea on what she has?" Sister Puis frowned, completely unsatisfied now. "Shouldn't we have someone similar to House in here? If not him, someone close?”

“Well we are his team, we only do as he says - and you _also_ have his very own daughter here with you. So you couldn’t get any closer to the man himself,” Cameron added in, nodding her head in Talia's direction. Talia bit down on her plump lips and gave an awkwardly shy wave as the nuns’ eyes widened in realisation.

“Oh? I would’ve never guessed,” Sister Puis murmured under her breath.

“You’re his daughter? Well… _that’s_ eased my nerves,” Sister Augustine hummed.

“It has?” Sister Puis frowned at her sceptically, crossing her arms.

“Yes, Sister. He seemed to work in a… _specific_ way which I strangely enough…trusted,” Sister Augustine nodded back as her eyes sparkled away.

“Ah then you don’t have to worry about a thing, because trust me - they're almost _identical,_ " Chase smiled falsely, gaining a discreet glare of death from Talia whilst Foreman and Cameron winced on the side. They both knew that had probably struck a nerve.

And as soon as Talia and Chase were out of the ward and the nuns were well out of earshot - they let it rip.

_“What the hell is your problem?"_ Talia hissed, yanking Chase to the side of the corridor so that other people could pass.

“ _Mine?!_ Aren’t _you_ the one that took two days out of work because you got _sad?_ ” Chase hissed back in nothing but disbelief. Talia dropped her hand from his sleeve as if it was hot to touch.

_“Chase!”_ she gasped shakily, unable to believe his stance.

Hardy ‘boyfriend material’ now, was it?

“No, Talia, _stop_. I get that you haven’t worked in a hospital before and I get that there’s an adjustment period, but your handling of that was respectfully _ridiculous_ ,” Chase continued to rant as they both turned a corner - strangely enough colliding into House, Wilson and Cuddy, who were in the middle of a dispute of their own. Cuddy took a brief look at the two of them and immediately knew that there was an issue.

“Oh _god_ \- one argument at a time please!" she ordered with an authoritatively risen hand. “Do we need to move this into my office so that this is _not_ a free live episode of General Hospital?”

“Oh please. We could _never_ pull off something as good as General Hospital,” House scoffed under his breath, gaining a glare from Wilson.

“Trust me, we don’t need to move it anywhere - we’ll be done soon," Chase assured them all with a grumble, now getting seriously agitated. “Talia, the baby had to die so others could live!” Talia was officially lost for words. She didn’t understand his energy and it was making her feel uneasy.

“My god, you really are sick," she muttered to him, her face going extremely pale all of a sudden.

“Yeah? Well it's a _damn_ good thing we're in a hospital then, isn't it?" Chase scoffed.

“Oh I don't know about _that!_ I'd be far too worried that you’d care less about my life on the basis that _I_ had to die so others could live!!” Talia hissed sarcastically, before turning around and storming back through the hallway again. House mouthed an exaggerated _‘wowwww’_ , whilst Wilson and Cuddy were stunned to silence. Chase stared after Talia in shock and shook his head before turning back to the others.

“Does _anyone_ know what’s going on in her head?" he asked them all as if they had the answers.

"Hey, don’t look at _me!_ For once, _I’m_ not involved," House held up his hands. "But if this is still about the whole _dead baby_ thing, ya might wanna…ohhhh I don’t know, _ask_ her about it?"

“Wait wait wait - you _still_ haven’t spoken to her about it yet?” Wilson suddenly squinted at Chase.

“I…haven’t had the time,” Chase lied under his breath, dropping his gaze to the floor. Cuddy rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to House and Wilson.

“You two, we’re finishing this in my office. Chase…you go sulk until you figure out how to fix _your_ problem. This is _exactly_ what I dread when it comes to coworker love,” she muttered before ushering the guys back down the hallway, leaving Chase to sigh shakily and lean himself up against the wall.

**…**

“Dr. Cuddy? You paged me?” Chase asked a few hours later, stepping into the office hesitantly. He’d just finished an awkward emergency intubation session with Talia on Sister Augustine after her condition had taken a swift turn for the worst. They completed it and managed to save her in time, but could barely _look_ at each other as they did so.

Cuddy glanced up and waved him in with a nod.

“Um…am I in trouble? Cos if so, House made me do it…?” Chase winced.

“No…although those words will _always_ scare me,” Cuddy sighed, putting her pen down, causing Chase to shoot her a small smirk. “I just wanted to know what's going on with you and Talia. One minute you’re besotted and the next, you can barely be around each other.” Chase couldn't help but roll his eyes before he could stop himself.

“Good _lord_ , there is just about zero privacy in this hospital, is there?" he began to mutter - but dropped his shoulders once Cuddy shot him the ‘give it up’ look. “Look I don't _know_ what's going on. I didn’t even realise that I was the problem until I noticed she wasn’t behaving weird with anyone else on the team.”

“Mhm…House said the same,” Cuddy nodded, tapping her pen on the desk in thought. “I know it’s not my business but…have you _really_ not asked her about what happened on that case?”

“No. We’re kinda…avoiding each other right now.”

“Well then…and hear me out here…but maybe _that's_ what's going on?” Cuddy suggested with a risen eyebrow. "Just a lack of communication. You didn’t ask her, you just…jumped at her. I assumed you would’ve out of work.”

“No. We don’t talk like that…in fact, we haven’t been on a single date yet. I don’t even know if she’s interested anymore. It may be a rough patch, or this could just be us and we may never have been compatible in the first place - both are _entirely_ possible,” Chase explained lowly, this whole topic already draining him. “Stuff like this is pretty normal, but it feels like we’re the centre of everyone’s favourite teen drama, and no disrespect but…it’s tiring the hell out of me.” Cuddy smiled slightly at this, completely understanding.

"The only reason why we’re all so invested is because one, it _feels_ like you’ve put us in everyone’s favourite teen drama - you know, the whole arguing in the hallway fiasco…and two, _nobody_ wants this to affect your work. Soon enough it’ll even annoy House. You’re both _good_ doctors, and if stupid stuff like this is gonna end up getting in the way then maybe you _shouldn’t_ bother dating,” she finally explained, hoping she was getting the point across. But Chase just shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed.

“No. I…I _do_ like her,” he murmured, a little embarrassed to admit it out loud to his boss. “I just…it’s _awkward_. I feel like everyone’s staring, _waiting_ for something to happen between us and it means nothing can progress…naturally. And House’s side comments make it worse!”

“Well, I think for the most part, it’s because we like the idea of you both. Above any other reason, it _clearly_ pisses House off and anything that manages to annoy that man is more than fine with me. His snide remarks is a coping mechanism - you’ll get used to it,” Cuddy drawled, picking her pen back up as Chase chuckled with a little shrug _._ “Look, I’m not trying to give you unsolicited advice - but I just recommend you solve it before it _really_ gets overdramatic.” She gave Chase a short smile, implying that he could go, so he turned around to leave - but something made him want to turn back around again.

“But if I _were_ to ask for some form of _solicited_ advice," he murmured whilst awkwardly rubbing his arm. "What would you suggest I do? I kinda don’t wanna screw things up with her and I feel like I somehow already have. It feels like she’s blaming me for the baby’s death. How…how do I fix that?” Cuddy raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“I don’t think she’s blaming you. I mean, it’s pretty obvious that her anger isn’t _just_ cos of the baby. Something clearly triggered her and it’s still a soft spot - meaning invalidating her sadness _is not clever, Chase._ So just be gentle as you ask. And if she still doesn't tell you, just go to her dad and work out whatever riddle he gives you. Cos if _anyone’s_ figured her out by now - it’s House,” she advised, leading a lost Chase to nod in understanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week I’ll be updating twice (Friday and Saturday) to make up for all this heaviness. Cute and funnier moments pending before I slam the drama on again! x


	11. stained glass kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W: slight mention of infant loss. Not too bad but if it triggers you, please feel free to skip!

That evening, Talia was sitting in the hospital chapel with nobody but herself and her rambling thoughts. She was absolutely exhausted - physically, mentally, and at this point, emotionally. She had no idea why she felt so glum and uneasy today but she just did. It had been her year since she beat her ongoing battle with depression, and she didn’t even want to _look_ at those pills again - so she was certainly praying for better days before everything got a little too overwhelming in a foreign place, surrounded by people she still didn’t know that well.

The chapel was blissfully silent until it was interrupted by the sound of the door quietly creaking open, causing her to hold her breath in anticipation. Within seconds, she felt a presence hovering behind her, alerting her to the fact that she was no longer alone.

She could smell his cologne - she knew exactly who it was.

Chase gulped, clenched his jaw, took a deep breath in through his nose and gingerly settled himself down in a seat beside Talia. “D’ya come here often?" he asked her quietly. She smirked to herself after hearing his voice again - and this time without it being raised over five billion decibels.

“Meh. From time to time," she answered with a light sniff, all without looking in his direction. "Sometimes I need God."

“Same here," Chase murmured slowly. “Same here.” Talia darted her tongue across her bottom lip and let out an exhausted sigh, focussing her attention on the colourful frosted stained glass windows in front of her as she spoke.

"I'm just…so _tired_ , Chase. I haven’t even been here for a _month_ yet and I already feel like I’m cracking,” she quietly admitted, burying her face in her hands in embarrassment. “I thought I’d be better at this job but clearly, I’m flunking. I’ve never flunked _anything_ before, by the way. Ever.” The feeling of self hatred and critique began to build up within her, and as a result, she felt her eyes welling up with big baby tears.

“You’re not flunking, Talia. You’re good at what you do,” Chase attempted to console her. But she wasn’t listening. Her sniffs were turning into quiet sobs and he hated every moment of it. It made him uneasy and almost _guilty…_ even though he still was unclear whether or not her unhappiness was his own fault. "Talia," he began, his voice now soft and tentative as he leaned in to see her face clearer. "What's going on? I don't mean with the whole baby thing, I kinda get that…I mean with…us? One month since I met you and it feels as if everything’s getting worse instead of better? That’s definitely not how it’s meant to go, is it?”

Talia shook her head at his words. The tears were now officially there, spilling out of her eyelids and rolling down her cheeks.

"It was the _‘baby thing_ ’ that started this,” she reminded him shakily. Chase didn’t get it, but he kept himself quiet and patiently waited for her to continue, seeing that she was about to open up. “When…when I was 17, I fell pregnant. At first I was scared - I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a mother, but then I did. I even booked some extra photoshoots and runways before I started showing so that I could afford all the best designer baby stuff and my mum was preparing our spare room but..." Talia was now sobbing fully, her tears unstoppable, regardless of how embarrassed she felt to be crying in front of him. That feeling in Chase’s chest tightened even more as he used his arm to bring her into his side, causing her to shamelessly bury her head into his chest. “I-I had to deliver my son and he didn’t make it. My mum went into a drinking spiral and I just broke-” Chase looked down at her, shook his head and cut her off, not able to stomach anymore.

“Don’t…god, Talia, I'm _so_ sorry. I had no idea..." he whispered, rubbing her arm before wrapping both his arms around her instead. “I should’ve known that your reaction towards that case didn’t just…spring up out of nowhere.”

“Well I didn’t tell you - so I wouldn’t _expect_ you to know that,” Talia pointed out miserably.

“I still should’ve still been patient enough to find out,” Chase sighed.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t even matter anymore. I just don’t get why you were being so… _weird_ with me afterwards? Whether you didn’t understand it or not, your attitude was just…off, from the moment I walked in this morning,” Talia sniffed without glancing up, although she was internally relieved that this was finally getting sorted.

"B-because I felt _bad._ I felt like I let you down,” Chase admitted with a little wince. Talia frowned at him and waited for him to explain. “In that ward, you were trusting _me_ to save the baby and I couldn’t, and I know it wasn't exactly my fault but..." he broke off uncomfortably. That’s when the penny dropped and Talia’s heart dropped into the pits of her stomach.

“Oh my _god?_ Chase no, I'm so sorry! I didn’t expect…I mean I _did_ at first but that was _so_ wrong of me to even imply out loud whilst you were-”

"No stop, it's not your fault,” Chase shook his head quickly. " _I'm_ the one that's sorry. If I went through what you did, I would be feeling the same way. But at the same time…things get complicated in hospitals, Talia - and you will have to get used to death, I'm afraid. I don’t mean to sound all condescending but nobody was there to tell me this stuff when _I_ first joined, so in a weird way I guess I’m just trying to look out for you.” Talia let out a small hum of understanding and nodded whilst keeping her face buried in his chest, as he stroked her back in large, soothing circles.

"I know you are. And it won’t happen again, I swear. I’m gonna be stronger from now on,” she promised him. “It's just babies that I get all twitchy with - but I’m sorry for not saying something earlier. It was silly of me to expect special treatment.” At this point, Talia had begun to feel extremely comfortable in his arms, which was a wild feeling, because she had never felt so comfortable with _anyone_ in her life. She glanced up to see him a little better, and Chase immediately looked her straight in the eye, maintaining that contact between them. He gently placed a finger under her chin, tilting her head up slightly.

"I'm sorry for not coming to you in a nicer way. It was out of order of me,” he apologised, honestly meaning every word. Talia smiled back up at him, even though it was a rather watery one.

“And I’m sorry that I ever made you doubt yourself in your profession. You’re a… _great_ doctor,” she whispered, as Chase edged his way a little closer to her. They gazed into each other’s eyes, the two of them trying to read what the other person wanted to do. Of _course_ Chase made the first move - he had to, because there was nothing more that he wanted to do than kiss her right then and there. So, he met her lips for a soft but rather passionate kiss, carefully supporting her head with his hands just as he did before so that they both moved in sync with each other.

Fireworks wasn’t even the _word_.

Eventually, they broke apart and leant their foreheads against each others, chuckling quietly at the sight of themselves grinning like two teenagers. Chase’s hands were still entangled in Talia's hair, and Talia herself was lost in a daze of her own. “You… _do_ know that was our first kiss without me _telling_ you to do so, right?” Talia giggled dreamily as she nibbled on her plump bottom lip. “You did that all on your own, dude. _And_ it was in a chapel-”

“Yes, I’m _well_ aware of the irony," Chase murmured, his lips barely moving as he found himself leaning in again.

Suddenly, his pager went off, that harsh beeping rudely interrupting them both.

“Andddd _that_ would be your father,” he groaned, jerking his head back a little. “And honestly, I’m not _too_ hot on the whole ‘making out with the boss’s daughter whilst the boss himself is on my mind’ thing.” Talia bit back her giggles, but simply leaned towards him to kiss him again, her fingers lightly running up his face and running through his sandy blonde locks as their lips connected once more. It was like neither one of them could get enough of each other, and neither one of them were complaining - until the pager went off again and they broke apart with twinning groans of frustration.

“He’s not gonna stop, cos he _just_ doesn’t seem to get when he’s not wanted,” Talia tutted as she slowly stood up and pulled Chase up with her. “So we might as well go and see what he wants." As soon as the two of them walked out of the peaceful chapel and into the bustling hospital corridor - they bumped straight into Wilson in the hallway who was busy doing the buttons on his coat up.

His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of them.

"Woah, you guys actually look… _happy!_ ” he blinked.

“Oh you know, there are good days and bad days - today happened to be a _great_ day,” Talia hummed back nonchalantly as she stole a cheeky glance at Chase, who smirked back at her and shook his head.

“Well…I’m glad to hear that! I think House was trying to get ahold of you, Chase. He said, and I quote: ‘the nuns are in fact gone, so now you can…party’? I assume _you_ get what that means, cos I sure as hell didn’t,” Wilson informed him tiredly as Talia giggled to herself.

"Right," Chase frowned. “Well…that’s nice of him."

“Honestly, he really _is_ just the sweetest. Goodnight, guys,” Wilson grimaced, excusing himself to go home. Chase and Talia gave him a little wave before making their way down to House’s office instead, already bracing themselves for whatever snide comments were to come their way. They cautiously stepped into the dimly lit room to be met with House. He was sitting there with his long legs propped up on his glass desk, chucking his large red bouncy ball against the wall in contemplation just as he usually did.

Well, just as he usually did - when he had a case. And the nuns had gone home already, so…

“Oh! _There_ are the Princeton-Plainsboro _lovebirds,_ " he yawned when he saw them walk in. “And I take it from the relaxed surfer dude vibe from the uptight Australian and the dreamy look in Talia’s otherwise usually focussed eyes that everything’s now… _sorted?_ ”

“Everything’s fine, thank you House,” Talia replied politely as Chase dropped his head with a wince, unsure of what House would say next.

But his next few words just threw him off completely.

“Great stuff!”

_“Great stuff?”_ Talia repeated slowly. “What do-”

“I mean you clearly work better when you’re friends,” House insisted, confusing Talia even more than before.

“Really? I actually thought I behave the s-”

“Talia, don’t try and rationalise it. Just nod,” Chase hissed under his breath before slapping a bright smile on his face again. House gritted his teeth at the awkwardness of it all and turned to Talia again.

“Anyyywayyy…you better get ready to show your little boyfriend and his pearly whites. You have a visitor,” he told her with a nod.

“He’s _not_ my boyfriend,” Talia sighed, at the same time as Chase saying, “What visitors?" House stared at the two of them in surprise. So, one denied the boyfriend comment and the other accepted it and moved on?

Interesting.

“Why, her _mother_ of course," he scoffed, still squinting at them both to see their reactions. Talia’s was the most fun, by far - she pretty much choked on the air she was breathing.

_“C-c-come again?”_ she spluttered.

“Yup! Your beloved _momsie_ is now a patient, in our very own hospital – and I’ve decided to take her case. _You’re welcome!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Put some Talia & Chase lovin' in there because we deserve it! Anddd back to drama tomorrow - see you then!


	12. family business

Talia felt like the world had completely stopped spinning at House’s revelation. Her mother? _Here?_

“ _E-excuse me?”_ she found her voice to splutter in shock. “You _are_ joking me, aren't you? Cos if this is a joke, House, I swear to god-”

“If this is a joke then it sure is lacking a damn punchline,” House yawned. He stared over at her once he’d finished. “Seriously? The woman loves her alcohol and after years of destroying her liver she’s finally lost her marbles. This could be the easiest diagnosis we ever had!”

“Yeah definitely not. Cos if it was clearcut, you wouldn’t have taken it in the place,” Chase pointed out fairly as Talia started to pace the office floor, up and down, unable to stop.

“Why the hell _would_ you even take it in the first place?! You don’t even _like_ the woman!” she suddenly reminded House coldly, stopping dead in her tracks.

“….because fun times never last?” House tried with a bored shrug, causing Talia to roll her eyes and resume pacing.

“Sooo….I’m _guessing_ that your mum being here is a… _bad_ thing?" Chase assumed to her with a frown as he picked up the patient file and flicked his way through it.

“I mean…she clearly needs help, it’s just that everywhere she goes, sh*t follows. She used to be normal with the drinking, but then she got weird. Out of all of the hospitals, why the hell would she choose to bring herself into _this_ one?” Talia murmured to herself. “This isn’t even her city!”

"Actually, her _son_ brought her here," Chase informed her, handing over the file for her to see. “I take it you’re familiar with a kid called Luke?”

Familiar with her half-brother? Well… _duh_.

“Oh, it just keeps getting better!" Talia let out a sarcastic laugh as she whacked her forehead with the file without even bothering to open it. Chase took it back from her and continued reading, now extremely intrigued, whilst Talia continued ranting. "House, I will _never_ forgive you for taking this case-”

“OH _relax_ , the kid presented his mom in the hallway before I could even register who he was talking about," House shrugged, clearly unbothered.

“Right. And _what_ , may I ask, is wrong with our darling angel?" Talia muttered as she peered over Chase's shoulder.

"Read the file," House told her, already limping out of the office. But then he froze, and popped his head back around the door again instead. "Actually, come with me. We're about to embark on a magical journey of _love, new faces_ and _family reunion_.”

…

A few minutes later, House slid the glass door to Miranda’s room wide open with his cane before boldly waltzing through, causing Luke to glance up from where he was seated beside Miranda’s bedhead, engrossed in a book. His eyes lit up once he saw who it was, and he leapt to his feet out of respect. “Ma - this is Doctor-"

_"Greg?"_ Miranda gasped, her red-rimmed eyes widening. But when she glanced behind him to see Talia enter too, with her arms folded irritably and jaw clenched, she swore instead. “Oh f*cking-”

“Hey! _Not in front of the kids!_ ” House hissed with wide eyes.

_"Why are we here?"_ Miranda suddenly snapped up at her son. Luke was taken aback by her abrasiveness, and that’s when Talia immediately pushed herself into view, stepping forward.

“Y-you told me to-” Luke stuttered.

“God, you really are unbearable now. Sucks to be Luke, huh?” Talia sighed to her mother with nothing but pity. Luke's deep brown eyes widened at the sight of his older sister and his throat ran dry.

" _Talia?_ W-what are _you_ doing here?" he coughed in confusion, rushing over to her instead. House rolled his eyes and raised a hand, interrupting the reunion before it got too in depth.

“Hey, kid - d’ya think we could have a word with your mom in private?" he suggested. But Luke stayed put.

“Luke, _go_ ,” Talia instructed him a little firmer, making Luke turn to appeal to her instead.

“B-but you might need me for-" He was cut off by her gripping his shoulders and staring dead into his eyes pleadingly.

“Luke, _we’re_ the doctors here. This is your chance to be a kid for about 15 minutes before you become her carer again. So let _us_ handle it - you can trust me,” she muttered to him quietly. Luke stared at her for a few more moments before finally dropping his head in defeat and trudging out, giving his mother one last fleeting look as he did.

“Wait, Talia…if she says anything rude, s-s-she’s not…” he still attempted to explain from out in the hallway.

“I get it,” Talia shot him a short smile back before finally sliding the glass door shut on him.

“Nice kid," House mused as he watched him walk off to the chairs.

"First indication that _he_ wasn’t yours,” Talia hummed back as she stepped back over to him.

“You totally insulted yourself there, by the way,” House murmured.

“House! Can we get this over and done with please?”

“Good plan! Tell me about the meds," House cut straight to the point. Miranda squeezed her eyes shut and her head started twitching.

“Not…not with _her_ there,” she panted, wriggling in the bed as if there were bugs crawling over her legs. House raised an amused brow and looked up at Talia expectantly.

“Well? You heard the woman!” he instructed, waving his hand away in a ‘shoo!’ like fashion.

“But I’m meant to-”

“The patient’s always right!” House told her loudly. So Talia bit back her words and stormed out of the ward as quickly as she came in, not wanting to be where she wasn’t wanted. But of course, it was just her luck to run into Foreman, Chase and Cameron right outside.

“Hey there,” Talia muttered dryly as Cameron shot her a small sympathetic look.

"How's mum?" Chase smirked at her cheekily. Talia just shot him the one fingered salute before pulling her lengthy wavy blonde locks into a ponytail to prevent it from sticking to her clammy forehead. It was clammy because she was nervous. But about what?

_“Talia!"_ Cameron hissed in horror whilst glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one saw. "You can't _do_ that on hospital gr-"

“Cameron, the woman in there is a demon," Talia interrupted with a grumble. “I pretty much hate her.”

“Hey, that is _no_ way to talk about Mommy! Boy, am I glad I only have you on the _weekends,_ ” House drawled out of nowhere, causing them all to turn around to see him hobble out of the room and straight over to them.

“So, how was your first ever _voluntary_ patient encounter?” Foreman questioned House sceptically whilst raising an eyebrow. “Find anything interesting?”

"Well _ya_. First of all, she still hates me. Secondly, she hasn't shaved her legs in two months. But not cos she likes the furry look, but because she cuts herself.”

“That must be because of those tremors. She’s twitching like crazy in there,” Talia sighed under her breath.

“But according to patient file, the tremors aren't new,” Chase remembered.

“They aren’t,” Talia confirmed.

“So she must have… _always_ cut herself," Chase frowned over at her. “Did you-”

" _Exactly_ , something changed in the last two months - well aside from her only daughter abandoning her to live with dad," House gave a mockingly sad sigh. “Shame on you!”

“Trust me, it’s a decision I regret more and more as the days go by,” Talia muttered to the rest of the group, making Foreman and Chase let out small chuckles.

“Hey! If I never agreed to take you in, you would’ve never met the love of your life here! Send me a card from Oz when you move your life down there,” House whispered loudly, causing for both Talia and Chase to wince awkwardly. “Anyway! I suspect the problem comes from the blood lost from cutting soooo get to collecting and send for clotting studies, blood studies, the whole shabang," House instructed them. As soon as he said this however, Luke re-approached them all with a drink in his hand.

“I saw you leave the room, so I’m guessing that you’ve finally figured out what’s wrong?” he blinked at them all, eyes shifting from person to person.

“Oh. My boss is here, everyone, this is Luke, Talia's brother. Luke, Talia’s brother - this is everyone,” House did a quick intro. Cameron, as usual, was the first to step forward with a dazzling smile and her hand outstretched.

"I'm Allison Cameron-"

"Uh huh, that’s great. Luke, we need you to give us another hour with your mom. Why doesn’t your beloved big sis take you out for some ice cream or…something? I don’t know what broken sibling relationships consist of these days,” House suggested bluntly. Luke turned his attention to Talia, not overly fond of the idea.

“Come on, bud. We might as well,” she murmured back, holding out her arm for Luke to take. After some contemplation, he reluctantly did so and they walked down the hallway together, feeling all eyes on them.

“You never introduced yourself to the in-law?” Foreman frowned to Chase playfully.

_“Bite me!”_ Chase blinked back with a sarcastic gasp.

…

Walking down to the ice cream parlour in silence wasn't fun.

The animosity that Luke was holding towards his older sister was obvious - and more importantly, Talia knew why it was there.

"Why did you leave?" he suddenly asked, looking up from where his eyes were trained on the gum-stained pavement beneath his feet. "You just… _left_ me with her.”

“I didn’t even know you were solely in her care!” Talia pointed out in her defence. “Last time I checked, you were living with your dad. That was the plan right? I went to my dad cos you went to yours and Aunt Rebekah was coming to look after her? _I_ didn’t know you were now the full time carer!”

“Well I am and it _sucks,_ ” Luke muttered bitterly. “Meanwhile you’re down here playing doctor.”

“Playing? I _am_ a doctor, Luke. _Literally_ ,” Talia scoffed back, trying not to get triggered by his tone. “My father also happens to be the doctor treating our mother. Now isn’t _that_ just the canniest thing?”

“Well I’m sorry to ruin your reunion,” Luke snapped, practically spitting the words out. That was when Talia stopped walking and crossed her arms defensively, moving to stand in front of him.

“Luke-”

“I _heard_ the comments he was making to that Australian guy. He said he was the love of your life. Didn’t take you long to settle down and forget-”

“Woah! It’s hardly like I’m _married_ to the guy. We haven’t even been on a da- look, that’s not the point! I haven’t abandoned you so stop acting as if I have,” Talia grumbled, on the edge throwing a mini tantrum. It was obvious that she was only behaving this way because the guilt was eating her alive.

She sighed and dropped her shoulders.

“Look, if you want me to come home-”

“No!” Luke groaned guiltily, shaking his head. “I-I’m sorry. I don’t even mean to be a jerk, I’m just…stressed. It’s not _easy_ with her anymore. It’s getting worse, I _had_ to bring her here cos she told me to. So I have no idea why she’s flipping out now like she never gave me that specific instruction.” Talia nibbled on bottom lip in thought.

“She’s not well. She doesn’t know _what_ she wants. But you’re doing well, Luke,” she told him quietly. "Better than I could've, by far." Luke sniffed and gave a miserable shrug. “I know she’s _physically_ sick now but mentally…is she better than before?” Luke shrugged again.

"I guess,” he said quietly. Talia cocked an eyebrow up and just stared at him. "Okay no, she's not - but what can I say? She’s our mother, and I love her. Ezra’s…Ezra’s death messed us up in different ways.” Talia bit her lip and stared at the ground. “It did, Talia. You coped by running from country to country, she coped by drinking. Sure now she’s twitching and stuff and sure, she’s given up on cooking. But…at least she doesn’t tell me she hates you anymore. The only thing she hates now is Haldol. She’s _very_ , anti Haldol. Says it brings bad spirts.” Talia opened her mouth to respond, but was quickly interrupted by her phone buzzing in her pocket.

“Sorry,” she whispered to Luke with her finger raised in the air.

“Who’s that?” he frowned back.

“That ‘Australian guy’,” Talia hummed back playfully as Luke gave her a reluctant smirk back. “Chase?”

“Talia…?” he began, his voice on edge.

“That’s my name, yes.”

“Your…your mum _may_ have just attacked Foreman," Chase informed her slowly. Talia’s eyes went wide as she turned to face her little brother.

“Sorry bud - the ice cream may have to wait.”

…

_"You drugged her!"_ Luke yelled at House as soon as they burst through his office.

“House,” Talia spoke quietly, pulling Luke’s arm back to restrict him. “What have you _done?_ ”

“Nothing! In fact I've taken her _off_ all medication,” House clarified, genuinely confused.

"Your guy Foreman - he gave her _Haldol_!" Luke shouted in distress.

"He… _what?_ ” House blinked back, for once, looking rather taken aback. That definitely caught Talia off guard. Then he quickly composed himself again. “Ooookaay so as _berating_ as this whole scene was, I’m gonna need you to leave us to it now, boss. Go and read her a story or something.” Luke blinked back over at Talia for clarification, what with her now being the _only_ person he trusted in that hospital.

“It’s cool, Luke. I’ll take it from here,” Talia assured him, squeezing his tensed shoulder in comfort. He sighed and reluctantly swept out of the room again, leaving Talia and House alone once more. “House, _please_ tell me that Foreman didn't _actually_ give her Haldol," she groaned slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Does it really matter?" House frowned.

“Errr _yeah_ , because Luke says she claims that it brings bad spirits," Talia hissed. House rolled his eyes dismissively. “No, House, I mean it! Luke _literally_ just told me that, I don’t think he’d-”

“As I said, two things your mother was - a compulsive liar and an alcoholic - she could also make a mean chilli. Three things…I keep doing that,” he muttered to himself, making his way to his whiteboard.

“Well apparently she doesn’t even cook anymore - so no, two things was correct,” Talia muttered back. That’s when House squinted at her, and she could tell that she’d mentioned something worthwhile. “What is it? What are you thinking?" Talia furrowed her dark blonde eyebrows together, completely baffled.

“Doesn’t eat cos she’s lazy or doesn’t eat cos she’s lost her appetite?”

“I…didn’t get to ask. Again, what are you thinking?” Talia pressed further.

"Go back to your old place, take Foreman and Chase. There's gotta be some leads in there that tell us what's making little Miss Muffet not wanna eat her curds and whey,” House instructed her, tapping his cane in thought. Talia blinked at him blankly.

"Your analogies are getting worse," she tutted. House could only nudged his head slightly in agreement as Talia swept off to find the guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed the double bill! I'll try and do these twice a month if I can x


	13. rendered speechless

"I don't suppose you have a key?" Chase asked Talia hopefully. “I don’t _particularly_ wanna bust the lock off your mum’s front door.”

“You mean you don’t particularly wanna sit back and watch _me_ bust the lock off her mom’s front door,” Foreman corrected him with a sigh, leading Chase to shoot him a glare. Talia pulled a single silver key out of her back trouser pocket, unlocked her old front door and stepped straight through. The place was still neat, as neat as she remembered it, in fact.

“Talia, I thought you came straight to New Jersey from London?” Foreman frowned as he began the search in the living room.

“I did.”

“So how did _you_ have a key?”

“I came in and out a lot. Couldn’t stay with my mum for too long at a time, cos she drove me mad. That’s why the accent is solid but the _knowledge_ is universal,” Talia explained shortly whilst checking her reflection in the hallway mirror.

“I know the feeling,” Chase muttered, stepping into the living room as he slapped on his latex gloves. He took a quick look around, squinting slightly as his lips formed into a frown. “Looks like Luke sleeps in the living room. Keeps it super clean, though. Bit weird for a teenage boy, carer or not…”

“That’s cos he suffers from slight OCD, as does mumsie,” Talia admitted with a little sigh.

“Wait, so I take it your parents lived here _together?_ " Foreman assumed as he scraped some mould off the edge of the fridge.

“Nope! Just my mum, myself and Luke. Then I got the hell out after…a situation happened that kinda tore the family apart. I should’ve taken Luke with me but I _stupidly_ assumed that he was taken care of,” Talia admitted with a grumble. She cautiously stepped into her old room, which she noticed had now been turned into a wine cellar.

Typical.

Talia rolled her eyes in disgust and made her way back over to the kitchen, now unable to stomach what her mother had become in her absence. This was _guilt_.

“So…why didn't House live here too?" Chase asked her curiously. “Although I gotta say, I can’t imagine him playing happy families with _anyone_.”

“Well yeah, there’s that - _and_ my parents were never really together, although they kinda tried to be. I was very much an accident - or, in my mother’s own words, a _‘useless failed abortion’_ ,” Talia told them back with a sarcastic beam. Chase and Foreman raised their eyebrows at each other, but carefully said nothing.

It was for the best.

As Talia wallowed in her thoughts, Chase went to check around the stove and spotted a pinned up above it, with today's date circled in thick black pen.

“Woah. _Here's_ something," he scoffed as he stared at it in amazement. "Guess whose birthday it is today?" Talia shrugged carelessly whilst Foreman walked over to peer over Chase's shoulder.

_“House’s?"_ he frowned.

“Yup! So your mother, who sent you to House, miraculously turned up at the hospital he works in on his birthday?" Chase turned to Talia, his clear blue eyes more than amused.

“It’s a bit creepier when you hear how my parents _actually_ met," Talia hummed as she stared straight at the calendar beside them.

“Why…?" Foreman asked hesitantly.

"My mum walked into a hospital, House was on a placement there, he took interest in her case and…it was his birthday,” Talia grimaced.

“ _That_ is dark on _so_ many different levels," Chase shuddered, taking a few troubled steps back.

“Yup. I don’t doubt that she _encouraged_ Luke to bring her here when she wasn’t in a state of psychosis. Something in her mind must’ve registered as familiar with House’s birthday coming up. That’s why she flipped on Luke earlier for bringing her there, because she didn’t remember telling him to. She might be insane, but somewhere in that brain of hers - things are still making sense,” Talia concluded lowly. She gulped and shook it off, unsure of whether this situation was sweet, or tragic.

“Well! Such a _wonderful_ pair of parents you got there!” Foreman called to her as he made his way to check the bathroom instead.

“ _Haha!_ _I_ get it, cos one’s heartless and one’s mad!” Talia cackled sarcastically. “You really are a _wild one,_ Foreman.” Chase smirked at her and walked over towards where she stood, snaking his arms around her small waist and pulling her towards him without warning. No doubt about it, Talia’s heart fluttered, but she was determined not to let it show on her face. There was nothing worse than a man knowing that he had _that_ kind of effect on you.

“Are you busy tonight?” Chase hummed as Talia bit back a reluctant smile.

“Dunno! Why?”

“I was thinking I could actually…you know, take you out for once?”

“Oh?” Talia sighed amusedly, dangling her arms over his shoulders and cocking her head to the side. “Where ya takin me? Summer Bay?”

“Alright, _now_ you’re starting to sound like your dad with all the Australian soap references,” Chase frowned down to her playfully, making her giggle and give him an apologetic shrug. “So what do you like to eat?”

“Pasta. _Always_ pasta,” Talia breathed with lovestruck eyes. “Gluten free, preferably.”

“GF pasta it is!” Chase chuckled, unwrapping his arms from her so that he could get back to searching. His next stop was to look inside the freezer. But to Talia and Foreman’s surprise, he let out a small whistle and rustled something about, the sounds of the something scraping alongside the frozen walls cutting through the silence of suspense. “T, I don’t suppose your mum has cooked much since she got sick?" Chase called back to her curiously. Talia and Foreman frowned at him, trying to see the relevance.

“Not according to Luke. She used to though. She loved cooking," Talia answered as she crossed her arms. “Why?” Chase finally turned around to face them with the box of frozen burgers in his hands, then nudged his head towards the freezer where at least twenty more packs sat.

There was another silence.

"I _know_ that this is the bit where we all look at each other and finally conclude something," Talia began slowly. "But I genuinely don't see what relevance this could possibly have to…anything.”

“Nope, _you_ certainly might not," Chase sighed, concealing some of the burgers in the clear plastic bag. "But your _father_ probably will.”

…

That evening, Foreman and Cameron had been put on the night shift to watch Miranda after House had gently but firmly prompted them to treat her for Wilson’s disease. He and Cameron had done a diagnosis before the others could even return with the burgers - which irritated Talia to no end. It felt like he had just shooed her off to get her out of the way of her mother.

Regardless, her shift was up, which gave her the chance to get herself ready for her date.

Back at home, House was softly playing the piano and Wilson was on the sofa reading a book with his feet propped up, whilst Talia was in her room. She slipped on her favourite little silk black strapless dress, black heels and let her buoyant blonde curls to be free for once, instead of them being tied back. She thought she looked rather pretty, but she wanted to be. First date with her crush?

It was _kinda_ a big deal.

“Guys? How do I look?” she asked the men nervously as she approached them in the living room. House and Wilson glanced up - and _immediately_ did a double take.

“Woah! You look _amazing!_ ” Wilson exclaimed in surprise. Talia’s cheeks flushed and she gave him a bashful one-shouldered shrug. “ _Seriously_ , House - are you _sure_ she’s yours? Cos these genes are telling me otherwise-”

“ _Haha,_ I didn’t see _that_ coming!” House laughed sarcastically. He redirected his attention to Talia once more and gave her a small nod. “You look…nice,” he muttered. Talia just smiled back at him and fiddled with her fingers. She didn’t know how else to handle it, because House had never said anything _nice_ to her without it being completely condescending.

But luckily she didn’t have to, as a second later - the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Wilson offered, swiftly jumping up to his feet and rushing to the front door to swing it open. Of course, standing there with a bouquet of deep red roses, was none other than Chase. His face fell into one of surprise once he saw Wilson standing there.

“Oh! Uh s-sorry Wilson, I’m here for-” he began to splutter.

“Talia?” Wilson guessed with a smirk. “Come in. She’s just through there.”

“Cheers,” Chase shot him a brief smile and followed him in, immediately spotting House at the piano seat. “Evening-” His polite words lodged straight in his throat as his eyes suddenly fell on her. It was as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs as he spotted Talia shuffle on her long black winter coat. She blushed at the sight of him and gave him a shy little wave. “Woah. Talia…uh…I…”

“ _English_ , Dumbo,” House grunted, softly resuming his playing.

“I…Talia, you look _incredible_ ,” Chase breathed in awe, unable to tear his eyes away from her body. He was practically undressing her with his eyes and she could tell - but she didn’t hate it. She was _more_ than pleased with his reaction, but again, she wasn’t sure what to do.

Both of them just kind of…stared at each other.

“Oh _god._ The two of you please, _begone_ , so that the credits can roll!” House groaned, stopping his playing once more.

“ _OKAY!_ Damn, we’re off! Don’t wait up and call me if there’s an update with Mum!” Talia trilled as she quickly scurried across the room to where Chase was patiently waiting. He reached over and kissed her cheek once they were actually face to face, and it took everything within her not to grab his face and kiss him properly in front of both her father _and_ his best friend.

Instead she took his arm and he led her out of the apartment, down the steps and into his car.

…

The restaurant that Chase chose was just beautiful, and Talia was in love with everything about it. From the gentle warm glow of the twinkling lights to the beautiful music in the background - it was just perfect. And again, as they sat down opposite each other and waited for the waiter to take their order, they found themselves not saying much. Just staring.

Well, _Chase_ was doing the staring and Talia was doing the blushing.

“You honestly look…incredible,” he sighed, unable to tear his gaze off her for more than a second. “I mean you’ve _always_ looked beautiful but now…you’re like-”

“Thank you, Chase,” Talia giggled, flicking her hair behind her shoulders and picking up her wine glass. She swirled it in between her fingers as she looked back at him. “You know, you haven’t _actually_ stopped staring since you first saw me.”

“How could I?” Chase scoffed.

“Wowww. _Somebody’s_ sprung - you might as well make me your girlfriend right here and now,” Talia smirked against the rim of her glass.

“Seriously, _don’t_ tempt me,” Chase chuckled back - and he was only half joking. Talia raised her dark eyebrows at him in amusement, about to make the cheekiest comment back.

But of course, _that_ was when the waitress finally wanted to join them with her notepad at the ready.

“Good _evening_ guys! Can I take your order?” she beamed at them both. But before Talia could open her mouth, her phone went off in her purse. She pulled it out and frowned down at the screen in surprise.

“It’s _House!_ ” she gasped to Chase in a panic. Her heart was racing - was it her mother?

“Of _course_ it’s House,” Chase muttered irritably. He turned to the waitress with an apologetic wince. “Sorry, could you give us five more minutes, please?” The waitress nodded and slipped away as Talia rushed to answer the call.

“House? Is Mum okay?!” she hissed worriedly.

“Who? Oh. Yeah, she’ll be fine. But I need you and your boyfriend to cut date night short. We got a new case,” House droned down the line, sounding mightily bored already. “I’d say sorry but hey - ya _could’ve_ just been a model and then you would’ve had all the free time in the world!!” Talia’s heart dropped into the pits of her stomach.

“But we haven’t even _ordered_ yet!” she whinged sulkily.

“Well _that_ should make it even easier to stand up and get your asses over here. See ya!” House yelped before hanging up. Talia bit down on her jaw as she shoved her phone back into her bag, whilst Chase already started to reach for his jacket, having already guessed what was going on.

“I’m _so_ sorry, Chase,” Talia whispered apologetically as she also reached for her coat. “I’d say that he’s doing this on purpose if…well actually, I have nothing to suggest that he _isn’t_.”

“Yup. And the worst thing is that we can’t even give him the benefit of the doubt,” Chase sighed back as he stood himself up. “ _I’m_ the sorry one. I really wanted to show you how serious I am about this.” Talia’s full lips parted open in surprise and she let out a little gasp - which naturally worried Chase a little. “Wait! I’m sorry, was that too-”

“No! It’s fine, it’s just _really cute,_ ” Talia waved off his concerns with a coy smile as they both got ready to leave.

Talia and Chase bustled into House’s office around thirty minutes later. Luckily, Talia had learnt to keep a change of clothes in her locker, so she was able to slip out of her date dress and into something more suited for work, but her makeup was still done, so now she just looked…casually stunning. “Hey, was the hooker look what you were going for tonight? If so…nailed it!” House guessed with an amusedly risen brow once they rushed in.

“Not now, House. You _ruined_ date night,” Talia muttered back irritably as she pulled her hair into a ponytail.

“Noooo, Matt _the patient_ ruined date night. _Damn_ that kid for dying, right?” House corrected her as he handed over the case file. “And you can _mention_ that to him once you go in there and find out whether or not the kid is a drug addict. You like talking - this should be fun.” Chase rolled his eyes and immediately started to make his way out of the office, whilst Talia lingered behind to shoot House yet another glare.

“Is…is Mum okay?” she sniffed.

“You can see her after our patient, if _that’s_ what you’re getting at,” House answered simply. There was a small silence between them before Talia broke it.

“You know Cameron and Foreman could’ve just swapped cases. So again - you ruined date night,” she stated once more. House gave a small smirked back and held his hands up.

“Okay so I _may_ have ruined it. But whilst you will forgive me for it - your Aussie loverboy probably won’t, and _that’s_ the exciting part,” he admitted shamelessly. Talia rolled her eyes in annoyance before flouncing out of the office as well.


	14. subconscious

The kid that House had called Chase and Talia in for was clearly in a bad way. He’d been admitted into House’s care after seizing in the middle of his exam that same morning, but no doctor could correctly diagnose him. It had now been over twelve hours since his fit, and he was _still_ barely competent.

“Matt,” Talia began tentatively as she flipped onto a fresh page on her clipboard. “I need you to be honest with us now, okay? Did you take any drugs this morning? Maybe…to help you _concentrate_ before the big test?”

“Drugs to _concentrate?_ ” his mother frowned at her.

“It’s actually quite common with teens, Miss Davis,” Talia hummed back.

“Well, not for my son. He’s drug free,” Miss Davis muttered back. But Matt was barely paying attention regardless.

"You're _hot,_ " were his only mumbled words to Talia. A little tinkering laugh slipped from her lips which she expertly covered with the sound of rustling papers - whilst Chase looked less than impressed.

“Matt, did anyone give you _anything_ this morning?" he tried instead, much more bluntly. Talia picked up on his tone and glanced up to briefly lock eyes with him. _Hers_ were playful, but _his_ were deadly serious and mildly irritated.

"I _just_ said he’s drug free!” Miss Davis stressed from across the room.

"Ms Davis, _all_ parents think the best of their kids. Even I gave my parents a little trouble, and look how I turned out!” Chase attempted to console her. “It’s honestly not that-”

“Silly thing to say, Dr. Chase!” Talia warned him through gritted teeth without glancing up from her clipboard. Chase blinked back at her, not quite understanding - but Ms Davis’ next words solved that innocent confusion.

"I _know_ my son, Doctor. Just because _you_ were reckless enough to be a druggie doesn't mean _he’s_ the same," she hissed. Chase clenched his jaw and said no more - so Talia hastily took over.

“Do you know if he went anywhere last night?"

“He was at home _studying_."

“Did any of his _friends_ happen to come over and help him ‘study’?" Chase jumped back in against his better judgement.

“Let me guess - cos if they did, _they_ brought him drugs?" Ms Davis scoffed back. "Is that what _your_ cool surfer friends did?”

“Surfer-?”

“Okaaay Dr Chase, I’ll take it from here,” came a familiar calm voice from the doorway. Both Talia and Chase turned their heads to see Cameron standing there.

_"I have it covered,"_ Chase hissed in her direction.

“Yeah, sure _seemed_ like it," Cameron muttered back as she walked on in. “Miss Davis-”

"I tested him myself, okay?" Ms Davis snapped before she could ask, causing Chase to turn back to her again.

"So let me get this straight," he frowned slowly as Talia covered her face with the clipboard, “it was totally unreasonable for me to suggest drug use…but at some point you did too?” Miss Davis opened her mouth to defend herself again - when suddenly, the BP monitor started beeping erratically, cutting through the tension.

“Another seizure,” Talia frowned as she immediately lay the bed flat.

_"Diazepam, 10 millilitres, stat!”_ Chase shouted out in a hurry as Cameron helped hold the jolting Matt down.

“What…what is going on with my son?" Miss Davis sniffed worriedly, placing a shaky hand over her mouth.

"He's _seizing,_ " Chase answered bluntly. Within around twenty odd seconds, they had successfully put Matt under and his body lay still again.

"Yeah, we can _see that_. The question is _why,_ ” Talia panted to Chase once the commotion stopped. “Can I see you outside for a second?” He sighed at her request but nodded, and the two of them excused themselves from the room - aside from Cameron who was still desperate to get answers from the mother. "What was _that_ all about?" Talia frowned to Chase as they made their way back to House’s office. “There was _immediate_ tension between you and the mum - do you owe her money or something?” Of course she’d also picked up on his tone towards Matt - but she didn’t dare open that can of worms. Things had literally _just_ got right between them, and she didn’t want to ruin it again.

Just an hour ago they were on a romantic _date night_ for goodness sake, gazing into each other’s eyes.

“Some patients are just like that. She clearly isn’t a fan of me,” Chase shrugged carelessly.

“How _couldn’t_ she be? You’re _adorable_ ,” Talia giggled as she playfully prodded his arm as they both swept into House's office to face the man himself. He was busy chomping on one of the microwavable burgers they had brought back from Miranda’s the day before.

“What’s new, pussycats?” he grumbled with a mouth full of beef.

“Nice reference, _very_ modern,” Talia drawled sarcastically as she passed him the chart. “The poor kid had _another_ seizure. That’s about _two_ in about twelve hours with zero diagnosis.”

“Wow! She knows MATH!” House gasped. “It was _probably_ caused from all that commotion between Chase and the kid’s mom.” Chase let out a hefty, tired groan and conked his head onto the glass table. It wasn’t his best shift already - and the fact that it had rudely interrupted date night was even worse.

“Has she complained already?!” Talia muttered with a wince, narrowly avoiding her father’s staring blue eyes. “It literally _just_ happened-”

“Not yet. I was walking by and overheard the cutting conversation from the hallway. Can’t say I’m too surprised that my trusted brunette sidekick ran in to play hero - after all, she used to be _infatuated_ with your boyfriend and would do _anything_ to save him from trouble," House murmured to Talia, observing her snap her head over to the red-faced Chase beside her.

_That_ was new information.

“Look, Allison and I had our time,” he swiftly defended himself with his hands risen in the air.

"You _did?_ " both Talia and House asked, him in amusement and her in pure shock.

“Damn. I always thought I was reading into things too much - but no, I am just _that_ good,” House murmured to himself as he limped out of his office without further instruction, taking the burger with him. At that point, Talia couldn’t even meet Chase’s eyes anymore. She wasn’t sure what the feeling within her was, but something felt off. She just couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

Chase and Cameron? No…that can’t have been it-

Then House poked his head back around the door again.

_“This is the part where you follow me,”_ he hissed, leading them both to awkwardly clear their throats and scurry after him.

…

"Talia, I don’t want you to…freak out about the whole me and Cameron thing. It was _ages_ ago and House is just saying it to provoke you,” Chase hummed whilst they retested Matt’s blood twenty minutes later, per House’s instruction.

Talia turned her head and shot him a small smile.

“I’m not freaking out," she murmured back. “I like Cameron, and I’m not your girlfriend - so you certainly don’t owe me an explanation. Yet.” Her voice sounded casual enough, but it was obvious by the look on her face that she was bothered about something. But Chase didn’t provoke her.

He, like her, just wanted things to stay good between them.

“Blood work all came back negative _again_. The doctors before us didn’t miss anything. All we can do is wait for House’s shot in the dark treatment to work,” Talia sighed as she printed out the results for his chart. “I should and go check on his progress.”

“I’m coming too. _You’re_ meant to be shadowing _me_ , remember?” Chase tried to point out lightly - but she saw straight through it.

“Chase, you and I _both_ know that you’re only insistent on following me cos it’s Matt which, by the way, _isn’t_ necessary. He’s a kid and it’s a tiny crush,” Talia rolled her eyes back at him. But as soon as she stepped into Matt’s room a minute later, and Matt's eyes clearly lit up, Chase just tensed up even more.

“Hey, Matt. How are you feeling, mate? It’s pretty late, you’ve been up for hours,” he smiled brightly, walking in behind her. Despite his friendly attempt, Matt barely registered his words.

"You're _hot_ ," he sighed wistfully in Talia’s direction again as she took down his heart rate readings. She bit back a coy smile as Chase tried not to roll his eyes.

“Matt, _please_ don't say that about your _doctor_ ," Ms Davis hissed at her son, obviously embarrassed by his behaviour. "I apologise Doctor, I swear - he’s _not_ usually like this."

“We know - you know your son,” Chase muttered under his breath whilst Talia shot her a tiny smile of comfort.

“Don’t worry Ms Davis. Your son is still a little delirious so any odd responses or behavioural differences are _completely_ warranted,” Talia assured her soothingly as she bent over Matt to shine her pocket torch into his left eye. “Vitals are looking good so far! Looks like Dr. House was right… _again_. Matt, can you see me?"

" _Yeah_ I can…!” came Matt's light chuckle - but it was only when Talia followed his eyes down that she realised what he was so amused at. Her sexy black lace date-night bra was rather visible from the angle she was in. Chase immediately saw it as well - and at that point, he’d had _more_ than enough.

“Unnecessary, huh?” he grumbled, marching over to where Talia stood and gently steering her out of the way so that _he_ could do the overview instead.

“Hey doc - do you have a boyfriend?" Matt craned his neck to ask. Now he was going out of his way to _completely_ ignore Chase. Talia opened her mouth to reply - but somebody _had_ to get there before her, didn’t they?

"Yes, she does," Chase confirmed coldly. Talia’s dark eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“I’m guessing from the overbearing overprotectiveness it’s you?” Ms Davis guessed with an unimpressed risen eyebrow.

“Yep,” Chase confirmed.

_“Pardon?”_ Talia recoiled, gaining an amused smirk from Matt.

“Good lord. How on _earth_ do you two work together without wanting to kill each other?” Ms Davis frowned, clearly now invested. Chase frowned at her question.

"Why would-"

“Oh, we _do_ get annoyed with each other! _Especially_ when one of us lacks in communication - you know, finding out things that we’ve never properly discussed _bang_ in the middle of a case and whatnot,” Talia gave a forced smile to Ms Davis over his words, causing Ms Davis to let out a small chuckle in response. Chase carefully kept himself silent and went to change to IV drip. He knew that was going to come back to bite him - but for now, Talia powered on. " _Anyway_ it seems as if your son is responding well to-"

But then the BP monitor went off again.

"Ah, not again," Chase muttered as he lowered Matt’s bed before the seizing started again.

“What do you mean ‘again?’ Chase, this isn’t a seizure - this is _cardiac arrest_ ,” Talia frowned in a panic, before craning her neck to shout, “WE NEED A CRASH CART IN HERE!!”

…

“Now the kid’s gone into cardiac arrest _?_ " House frowned, tapping his cane on the carpeted floor of his office in thought. “Damn. One more special move and he wins a set of steak knives.”

"What did you do to him?" Cameron smirked over to Chase playfully, causing him to release a slight chuckle.

“Nothing, actually. I _nearly_ did though, his flirting was getting a _little_ sticky-” he began, but that only made House release a loud groan of boredom.

“ _Doctor Chase,_ you work in a _hospital_ , and _in_ that hospital you are going to come across many men and women alike who will crush on your girlfriend. Don’t let it make you _weep_ ,” he grunted as he heaved himself up from his chair. Talia rolled her eyes at the ‘girlfriend’ phrase again, whilst Chase waved it off and gave a yawn.

"Busy night, Chase?" Foreman raised an eyebrow cheekily, glancing over at Talia afterwards. But instead of her regular bold replies, she only gave him a half hearted smirk back - and that surprised him.

“I’ve been at work for a good 18 hours straight,” Chase replied back miserably. “ _Wish_ I could say I was a different type of busy-”

“Oh! By the way, your _mom_ is requesting your presence,” House suddenly told Talia as he limped back to his chair, now with a steaming mug of coffee.

“Cute. Tell her to send a postcard once she’s been discharged,” Talia muttered back bluntly. “So, what’s our next move with Ma-"

“Nothing! You’re off the case till you go and talk to her,” House answered without skipping a beat.

The entire room’s focus shifted from Talia to House in shock.

“I’m _sorry?_ ” Talia scoffed in horror. “House! You can’t _force me_ to talk to her!”

“Mmmmm but I _cannnn_ ,” House grimaced back.

“I came to you to get _away_ from her! Our relationship is in the gutter. She was a bitch to me,” Talia reminded him, causing the team to look back at her again. “Do you even _care_?”

“Do I _care?_ Nooo, I just got you this job _for fun!_ ” House exclaimed sarcastically. “She was a bitch for years because she was sick, kid. Now she’s all better. Go talk to her.” Talia knew she wouldn't be able to win this fight. And even when she glanced over at Chase for support, she was only met with the sight of him and Cameron comparing notes with each other, not even paying attention anymore - and that pretty much pushed her over the edge.

No, she wasn’t _jealous_. She didn’t think so, anyway.

"Fine," she mumbled out to no one in particular before getting up and walking straight out. Foreman, who had observed the entire scene unfold, raised his eyebrows and stayed silent - but Chase glanced up, totally lost.

“Wait, where's Talia going?" he frowned.

“ _God_ , you _are_ slow. Go give the kid a damn MRI,” House dismissed them with a short grumble.

…

"Oh, Talia, _there_ you are! You look lovely,” Miranda smiled sweetly from where she was propped up in her hospital bed with a book. Talia stormed in and slid the glass door shut behind her. “Er…are you alright?"

“Where’s Luke?” Talia muttered as she approached her bedside.

“Preparing the house for my return. Hopefully throwing out full bottles of liquor and whatnot,” Miranda answered with slight regret. Her eyes were focussed and she was speaking in fully constructed sentences, so Talia could tell that she wasn’t her usual erratic self anymore - but she was trying not to let that make a difference to how she felt. She still didn’t trust her in the slightest.

Far too many heated insults and harsh words had fallen from those very same lips that were now smiling - for many years, at that. And Miranda could read the hesitation in her daughter’s eyes.

“Sweetheart, listen. I’m sorry for-”

"Once you go home, I don't want to see you _ever_ again," Talia muttered, bluntly interrupting her apology. “I _mean_ it, Mum.”

“Talia, didn’t House tell you? I’m _better_ now and I’m finally getting adequate help-”

“You’ve _had_ help for years! _Luke_ was your help,” Talia reminded her angrily. But her shoulders dropped as Miranda’s eyes welled up with tears. Great. _Now_ the guilt there - and now she had to soften her tone. “I just _really_ need you out of the way, Mum. It’s _impossible_ for me to start fresh if you’re around.”

_That’s_ when Miranda understood.

“Wait, Talia, I thought you were better? We scraped money together to pay for counselling and you _said_ you completed the sessions!”

"I lied. I didn’t go to any of them. I _thought_ I’d be able to fix myself and for the most part, I did,” Talia confessed croakily, crossing her arms. She could feel her heart rate begin to increase. “But you and I _both_ know how big your mouth is and always has been, even _before_ you got sick. You know how this will go if House finds out what happened. He’ll get me out of here faster than _anything._ ”

Miranda rolled her eyes and picked her book back up.

“This is getting _ridiculous_ , Talia," she tutted, opening it to the right page. "You know that you can't hide it from him forever - and that’s only if Stacy hasn’t said something already.”

“ _You_ said that Stacy didn’t even _know_ I was House’s, and even if she _had_ told him what happened, _House_ didn’t know I was his either so…he probably hasn’t connected the dots,” Talia hissed, although even she didn’t look convinced.

“ _House?_ Not connecting dots?” Miranda scoffed. “Unlikely.” Talia groaned and hooked her hands behind her own head.

“Mum. _Please_ don’t say anything. I’m _begging_ you!”

"I won’t," Miranda stated bluntly, closing her book again. “But what if Stacy returns or hears that you’re working here and it all falls out? _You_ know that what you did to the boy was justified, so all you can do is stay true to yourself and _stick_ to your story.” Talia opened her mouth to argue back - but then stopped. She could already hear that familiar white noise again…and she knew all too well what that meant.

“Just get well soon and _go_ _away_ , Mum,” she mumbled out instead before running out of Miranda’s room. She could feel all the control she had maintained over herself begin to slip, and it was throwing her off. So _that’s_ what had been subconsciously bothering her all this time - her mother’s sudden appearance in a brand new environment had triggered that fight or flight response that she’d been trying so hard to suppress all this time.

This _wasn’t_ part of the plan.

_"Woah, careful!"_ came Cameron's cheery voice, suddenly ripping Talia straight from her thoughts before she could crash straight into her. She held Talia’s shoulders to look at her properly. “Talia, are you okay?” she murmured in concern as her eyebrows knitted together in worry.

But Talia was in no mood to talk with _her_ of all people - so she ripped her shoulders from her grip and walked on by without saying another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> talia's history is leaking out bit by bit and i'm so exciteddddd!


	15. seizures and mild concern

Talia was running for her life. She had to get out before she accidentally had a breakdown right there and then on the hospital grounds. Now she was was unsure whether her sudden panic was just transferred exhaustion from such a tedious and unexpected shift that had now leaked into the morning. She didn't even know where she was running _to_ or what she was running _from_ , because her mother wasn’t a threat from where she was still recovering in bed, nor was anyone else - but the fight or flight within her had _officially_ been triggered.

All that she knew to do in times of trouble was run. It was a serious flaw in her, but with all she’d ever been through, what did everyone expect?

At this point the only person panicking her was herself, but she continued to speed down the corridors like lightening regardless – soon heading _straight_ into Foreman and almost knocking him down in the process, _just_ before she could reach the elevator. “Woah,” Foreman murmured out. He held Talia’s shoulders to steady her as she naturally jolted forward from suddenly stopping. Her eyes widened at the sight of him and she swiftly caught her balance before clearing her throat.

“Oh my god, Foreman! I’m _s-so_ s-s-sorry,” she spluttered, pushing her falling dark blonde locks from her eyes.

“Are…are you okay? You look a little shaken-” Foreman began to ask.

“Me? Oh yeah! Absolutely _fine_ ," Talia lied quickly as she forced a smile onto her face. Foreman just gave her a slow nod of response. It was obvious that he didn’t fully believe her, but why was it his business?

“If you say so. I take it you're also on your way to House?"

_"House?"_ Talia repeated hazily as if she didn't know who that was.

“House. Our boss? Your…father?”

" _Right_ , right. And why would…why would I be going to him exactly?" Talia frowned ever so slightly. Foreman could only blink at her at that point. Was she high?

“You didn’t get his buzz?"

"His _buzz?_ " Talia blinked as if she’d never heard of that either. Foreman nudged his head towards the pager in her white coat pocket and Talia’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Yeah…no….I mean I _may_ have, but I was just, you know, talking to my _mum_ and I was a little-”

“Alright, just…come with me," Foreman sighed tiredly, gently steering Talia by her shoulders and back down the hallway to House's office where Cameron, Cuddy and Chase were seated with House himself. His eyebrows shot up once he saw them both walk in.

“Yikes, what happened? Foreman your go-to when Chase pisses you off?” House guessed cheekily, propping his long legs up on the desk.

“Give it a rest, House,” Talia murmured semi-apologetically. Her temples were now throbbing, so she slumped into the chair beside Chase and held her warm head in her hands, trying to steady her breathing before anyone noticed that it was erratic. This was proving to be a difficult task in itself - trying to pretend that she was fine in an office full to the brim with doctors who were trained to spot when something was wrong _definitely_ wasn’t easy.

Particularly as Cameron still couldn’t stop staring at her in concern.

“Well!” Cuddy decided to begin brightly, standing to her feet. “I guess you all know why we're here…”

"What's up with you _now?_ " Chase whispered into Talia’s ear as quietly as he could whilst Cuddy droned on with her speech. But Talia could barely focus, let alone think of a suitable excuse. Her head was still pounding, her heart hadn’t slowed down and her vision hadn’t cleared up yet - and now, to make it worse, her mouth was running dry.

“I’m _fine_ , Chase,” she muttered back through gritted teeth, her eyes still firmly focussed on Cuddy to show she was listening.

“Right. Well clearly that’s not true. You’ve been acting weird all night," Chase persisted on quietly, completely ignoring her insistence. "I just wanna know what exactly is going through your head. You promised you wouldn’t do this anymore, Talia-”

“ _Drop it,_ Chase,” Talia mumbled irritably.

“Is it cos of what I said to Matt? I swear I didn’t mean it, I only said that stuff so that he’d-”

" _Doctor Chase,_ are you even _listening?_ " came Cuddy's sharp voice, slicing through their conversation. Talia gulped and began fiddling with her fingers awkwardly, but Chase rolled his eyes and turned his attention over to Cuddy instead.

“Yeah - the mum of the boy doesn't want me working on this case anymore because she thinks I'm a _druggie_ unlike her perfect Mattie. Sadly, I _don’t_ feel like being heartbroken about it,” he drawled coldly. Cuddy and Cameron raised their eyebrows at his tone whilst House just did a silent _'wowwww'_ notion with his mouth.

“Wait…huh?” Talia suddenly frowned, rubbing her eyes and straightening herself up.

“Welcome back to the conversation, Junior. The boy's mommy thinks that your beautiful angel faced blonde babe is a drug dealing dude damned to hell," House filled her in amusedly. Talia turned to blink at Chase with a scoff.

“Told you that it wasn’t wise to tell her you did drugs, _especially_ if you actually did do them,” she muttered. “Which, by the way, is…”

“ _Cool?_ " House finished off for her.

_“Bad!"_ Cuddy corrected him quickly as Chase lowered his head in shame. “And to be _honest_ House, _you_ should've known this. You who does extensive research into everyone to get a 1up on them? I find it hard to believe that you had no idea.”

“Who said I didn’t? Equal opportunities, am I right? I hired a black guy, an overly moralistic white girl and the rich drugged up foreigner,” House shrugged, cocking his head to the side shamelessly. Foreman couldn’t help but smirk at his words, Chase rolled his eyes, Cameron’s cheeks flushed pink whilst Talia simply chewed on the nib of her pen in thought, fading back out of the conversation again.

"Look, you have _got_ to figure out what this kid is dealing with because the sooner he can leave, the sooner we can fly by this whole drug situation before I’m forced to tell the board. Get it done and get him and his mother _outta here_ ,” Cuddy instructed them all firmly, her pretty blue eyes flickering between each and every one of them before nodding and leaving them to it.

"Well thank God _that's_ over!” blurted House once she had finally gone. "I was getting so bored I almost forgot my own _name_. So! How are we gonna fix the kid? MRI came out clean so there’s clearly _something_ he’s not telling us.”

“Usually I’d think you were being cynical but it’s true. We’re missing something that only he knows and one of us needs to get it out of him before it’s too late,” Foreman sighed.

“Well, he seems to have taken a keen interest in Talia," Cameron pointed out with twinkling eyes. "When I went in there just now he was asking for her _especially._ " Chase let out a quiet sigh and and kept his eyes focussed on the table beneath his fingertips, whilst Talia couldn’t help but blush.

This was a perfect opportunity to appear as fine as she was before - so she took it.

"Well look at me - who wouldn't?" she joked lightly.

"Yeah, who wouldn’t?" Chase repeated with a grumble, flipping through the case files unenthusiastically. Then he froze. “Wait, why the hell am I even wasting my time reading this? I'm not even allowed to _work_ on the kid."

"Don't, of _course_ we're still letting you work on him," Cameron tutted with a frown. "The woman has no _idea_ what she wants and what she doesn't want - she’s in hysteria!”

“Um I'm _pretty sure_ that she wants her son to get better, hysteria or not?” Foreman hinted heavily, his voice dripping with sarcasm as Talia shot him a small smile.

_"Haha, I see what you did there!!!”_ House quickly jumped in, laughing a little too brightly. The team turned around to stare at him, a little confused. "Great, now that I finally have your attention, I think we should start thinking of a cure? Before, you know - we all _have blood on our hands?_ And when I say we, I really mean you - because I’d let you all go down in flames in a heartbeat-”

“I _meant_ that Talia should try and probe him for whatever we might’ve missed? Maybe she can squeeze it outta him using her charm or something,” Cameron suggested, glancing at Chase for any form of reaction - which he carefully didn’t give.

“Exploiting your femininity for answers? You’ve been spending way too long with me. Off you go, Junior,” House shooed Talia out before she could protest.

…

"Hello again Matt!” Talia beamed brightly as she glided into the room a few minutes later. Of course, Matt’s eyes automatically lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Hey again Doctor Talia," he answered steadily, his eyes following her intently as she slowly made her way toward him. “How…uh…how are you doing?"

“Well _I'm_ not the one in a hospital bed, Matt," Talia let out a slight giggle as she settled herself in the chair next to his bed. "But I'm doing well, thank you for asking. I just wanted to come and talk to you about…stuff."

_“Stuff?"_ Matt repeated amusedly.

“Yeah…you know, like…what you do in your spare time, what you eat regularly, what kinda stuff you and your friends do to chill out - that kinda stuff.” Matt chuckled slightly at her explanation and shook his head.

“I’m guessing these questions are gonna help you get some kinda diagnosis?” he guessed.

“Clever guy!” Talia smirked, leaning back in her chair. “So if you know all that, I guess you’ve _also_ figured that if you don’t tell me, we won’t be able to get you home anytime soon.” Matt dropped his gaze into his lap and Talia started to feel uneasy, sensing something had changed.

But what did she say to make him react like that?

“Sorry - don’t you _want_ to get home?” she crinkled her nose in confusion.

“Not…really, no,” Matt admitted, now closing his eyes.

“And why’s that?" Talia continued on. Internally, she was already assuming that she was finally about to get some kind of hidden information out of him, perhaps about abuse at home or even worse.

But, no.

“Because…when I leave, I’ll be away from you.”

Oh for goodness sake.

“Matt…did you _choose_ not to hear Dr. Chase when he was yapping on earlier?” Talia clarified in amazement. “Or did you _genuinely_ manage to miss it?”

“You didn’t seem _that_ into him, especially after the whole boyfriend comment - so I guess he only called you his girlfriend to get me off you,” Matt pointed out without so much as breaking a sweat. Talia let out a tinkering laugh of surprise and shook her head. So he was smarter than he looked. “The makeup to work, the little looks to him - obviously you’re comfortable to find someone else.” Or…not that smart at all.

“Wow. You are _just_ like my father - and you’re also very wrong, which is more… _un_ like my father,” Talia chuckled lightly. “Allow me to debunk your well thought out theory. The makeup to work was _literally_ because Dr. Chase and I were dragged away from a date night to assist on this case. The little looks between myself and Dr. Chase are because we’re mid-spat about something. I still very much like him. So, let me rephrase - if we _don’t_ sort you out now, you’ll either be leaving out the front entrance - or out the back.” That was all it took for Matt to finally give up, slumping his shoulders in defeat.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine, just start being honest with me and we can keep this as quick and painless as possible,” Talia shrugged smoothly to show it was no big deal. “So, Matt - have you ever done something that you regret that you’d be uncomfortable with your mum knowing? She seems very…particular.” Matt scoffed at her words.

"We've _all_ done something we regret - haven’t you?”

Suddenly, Talia’s heart began to race. The walls began to close in again. Not here, not now.

And _then_ she couldn't breathe properly. Not here, not now-

“Doctor…?” Talia looked up to assure him that she was fine - but to her immediate horror, Matt’s face began to morph before her very eyes. His features were changing into someone she never thought she’d have the displeasure of seeing again.

This was the worst she had been - and then the madness truly started.

Within twenty odd seconds, Chase and Cameron had skidded into the ward after hearing a yell for help from outside. He was still sat in his bed, seemingly frozen to the spot with his eyes wide in shock. “Matt? What happened? What's wrong, mate?” Chase panted, running over to where Talia was seated with a blank look on her face, staring into the distance without blinking. He briefly kept an eye on Cameron who was quickly dealing with Matt, shining a light into his eyes to make sure he was okay.

“It’s… _it’s not me!_ ” he spluttered out, brushing Cameron off with shaking hands. “ _I’m_ fine, it’s-”

“Wait, Matt just relax…" Cameron insisted, taking his pulse just in case. Chase turned to Talia to ask what happened, now completely lost - but what he saw frightened the hell out of him. She suddenly started shaking violently off the chair and consequently slid straight onto the polished floor. Her eyes were no longer focussed, and they were beginning to roll straight to the back of her head, whilst all her limbs began to tense up.

“Oh…my _god!”_ Chase murmured, automatically supporting her head as he reached into his pocket for his pager. Cameron looked over anxiously, before realising that Talia wasn’t even on the seat anymore and that Chase was now bent over.

“Wait, what’s going on?!”

"She's _seizing_ , Alison!” Chase muttered under his breath as Talia continued to shake in quick, sudden jerks, with white froth building up relentlessly in her mouth.

“Oh my god. _WE NEED HELP IN HERE!_ ” Cameron shouted at the ward door. “Get us a stretcher and 10ml of diazepam, _stat!_ ”

“Is…is she gonna be okay?” Matt rushed out in worry as he watched Talia writher around in a panicked Chase’s arms. “I swear, I didn’t touch her!”

“I believe you,” Chase murmured back to him without even looking up. He gently lay Talia down on the floor as Cameron rushed over with a spare pillow to prop her head up. "T? Talia, babe, _can you hear me?_ " Chase called out clearly whilst Cameron took her pulse. He could feel his own heart begin to slam against his chest as he was speedily passed a syringe by a standby nurse. "How's her pulse?"

"Not great," Cameron informed him quickly as Chase shoved the syringe into Talia's arm, numbing her movements and sending her still. The rest of the nurses arrived with a stretcher and carefully lifted a knocked out Talia onto it before quickly manoeuvring her to an empty room. Chase was left standing there in shock, with Cameron standing beside him - equally as taken aback.

"What…the _hell_ just happened there?”

…

"House," Chase declared shakily as he marched into House’s office, both his trembling hands clenched into tight fists in an attempt to keep himself calm. “Talia's officially been booked into Ward 28. Cameron’s gone to tell her mum now.”

“I heard," House muttered, resting his chin on the backs of his hands and vaguely staring into the distance in thought. "What triggered the seizure?"

“ _No_ idea. Matt said she was asking him a question and that she suddenly froze up and wouldn’t respond which freaked him out, so he called out for help. By the time we got in there she just…she started seizing. L-literally i-in my arms.” House took one look at Chase's clear blue eyes and immediately saw that they were worried and full of fear - he clearly wanted to go back out there and see her. Whilst it was ‘sweet’, it was fascinating to him. He’d never seen Chase that unnerved.

“Hm,” he hummed, jutting his bottom lip out in wonder.

“So…what do we do?” Chase continued to ask.

“What do we do? Well we _fix_ her," House responded lightly. "Sooo _go on,_ do the usual patient interrogation - I mean…history.” Chase could barely believe his ears, so much so that he physically nudged his head forward ever so slightly.

" _Seriously?_ You want us to treat her like a regular patient?” he clarified. House blinked at him blankly.

"...as opposed to…?”

Chase didn’t even have it in him to argue. He just wanted her to get better.

“Fine. I’ll…I’ll do her history,” he reluctantly agreed before sweeping out of the room, leaving House sitting there alone deep in thought and borderline…concern?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank youuuu for the love as usual. you guys really never fail to make me smile! redeveloping talia as a character has been a joy to me thus far...hope you had a wonderful festive period and i'll see you next week (maybe twice...who knows! trying to make the most out of my free time before work starts back up again!)


	16. curiosity killed the talia

Talia was now sitting up in her designated hospital bed, completely dazed as her heart pounded away and her the pain soared in her head. She had no idea _what_ was going on, _why_ she was wired to a vitals machine, or _where_ anyone on her team was. At this point, she wasn’t even too sure what time it was.

But as soon as Chase walked in, her nerves quickly subsided. And once _he_ saw that she was awake, he sped over to her instead of those the hesitant steps that he was previously taking. "Talia," he breathed, grabbing her wired hand. " _Never_ do that again.”

“It was hardly by choice,” Talia croaked whilst Chase checked her stats. “What…what _happened?_ ”

"You had a pretty bad seizure whilst you were with Matt and we kinda have _no idea_ what sparked it off,” Chase mumbled, writing down something on his clipboard. “Everything else looks fine. Your bloods, your recovery progress, you even had an _MRI_ whilst you were out…all came back clean.”

“Well _I_ could’ve told ya that much,” Talia frowned jokingly. Then she looked at him properly and her dimmed eyes lit up. “Oh my god aww, look at your _face!_ You’re as white as anything! Were you scared?" she lightly teased him, prodding his chest playfully. Chase rolled his eyes and put the clipboard down.

"I mean, you _did_ seize in my arms and, despite me being a doctor, my brain immediately thought that you were _dying_ ," he scoffed under his breath. “So really, ‘scared’ is a bit of an understatement." Talia giggled at his honesty and laid down properly, snuggling deeper into the covers to try and relax herself.

“What…what actually happened to me? What provoked the seizure?”

The irony here being, of course, she knew damn well what provoked it. But she was praying Chase had come up with some sort of alternative theory that she’d just be able to go along with.

"I was hoping you’d be able to tell me," he sighed, much to her dismay. Ideally, Talia would’ve buried this all deep down within - but now that she was genuinely affecting her health, she couldn’t.

There was no space left.

“All I can remember is him coming toward me-" she started hesitantly. But she couldn’t get any further, because Chase's head snapped up immediately and a frown fell straight onto his face.

"Who? Who was coming toward you? Was it Matt? _I KNEW IT!_ " he yelped, beginning to pace the room with long, angry strides just as Foreman walked in to see how Talia was doing. But as soon as he saw Chase's state, his eyebrows flew up in surprise and froze dead in his tracks.

“Errr…what’s going on, guys?”

"Matt tried to make a move on Talia!” Chase raged, pointing his finger over in her direction. “And _I’m_ the one with a problem?! _I’m_ the one overreac-”

“ _No Chase_ , he didn't!" Talia interrupted him quickly. "Forget about what I said, it wasn't Matt-”

“Then _who was it?_ He was the only dude in the room!” Chase exclaimed back with his hands dramatically outstretched. “No _wonder_ he couldn’t tell us how it started, it’s cos it was _his_ flamin’ fault!”

"Talia if he's touched you, then we should know," Foreman frowned, looking rather annoyed as it dawned on him that there could be an over-familiar teenage harasser in their care.

“Foreman, he _didn't_ touch me-“ Talia began to insist earnestly - before her vision slowly started to cloud over again and her breathing became rugged. She knew what this meant - but it was unusually soon after the last one.

“Talia?” Chase frowned again as he overheard her sharp breathing pattern.

“ _Ch-Ch-Chase,_ " she gasped in sharp breaths, sitting up straight and clutching her throat in a panic. “G-get me t-t-ten m-m-millegrams o-o-of-” Chase dashed over to her before she could even finish her sentence with Foreman right at his heels.

"Stay with me, T! We’re getting you help, okay? Just stay with me, I need you to stay with me!” Chase spoke to her as clearly as he could, whilst Foreman pinned her down by her shoulders before the rapid shaking resumed.

“Seriously, what the _hell_ is going on?” Foreman shouted to Chase over the noise of the jerking Talia began to rattle the bed. “Did we say something?”

"I've got _no_ idea–”

"Step aside," came the sudden smooth voice of House from the doorway. Although the men were confused by his instruction, they didn’t move. “I said _step aside._ ”

"We _can't_ move, House - if we leave her to-" Foreman began whilst Chase pressed the button for assistance, completely ignoring the other two.

"Just _move,_ ” House repeated calmly but loudly, squinting his eyes as he observed his daughter.

"HOW CAN WE LEAVE HER? _SHE'S HAVING A SEIZURE!_ " Chase shouted at House, as if he was deliberately being difficult.

“Thanks for that, smartass! Foreman, I said _let go of her!_ ” House instructed even louder.

"Foreman, _leave your hands there,_ " Chase hissed threateningly as he quickly took the Diazepam from the nurse who had just run in.

"Do _not_ give her Diazepam!” House ordered instead.

_“_ House _, are you serious?!”_ Chase muttered angrily as he tore open the plastic.

"Chase, just do it," Foreman muttered, his eyes pleading as his muscles started to strain under Talia’s relentlessly flailing body. Chase nodded and prepared the syringe.

**_"Foreman, trust me and let go of her!"_** House suddenly barked. His sudden rough instruction caused Foreman and the surrounding nurses to jump back in shock, and Talia’s entire body ended up shaking so violently that she almost fell straight off the bed. House just stood there and stared at her in amazement with his head leant to the side.

"House are you happy now?" Chase began to snap - but was suddenly interrupted by Talia beginning to spit up thick amounts of blood instead of the usual white froth. House didn't say anything, he just cocked his head to the side slightly and took a few steps back, as Foreman finally shoved Talia back down so that Chase could inject her and put a stop to the madness.

…

"What _the hell_ was _that_ all about?!” Chase demanded from House furiously as they all marched briskly through the hallways.

"I wanted to see what would happen," House answered simply, limping straight into his office.

_"She could’ve died!”_ Foreman hissed as he and Chase speedily followed him in.

"Oh _don't_ act like _you_ were trying to help - _you’re_ the one who let go of her in the first place!” Chase started on him instead, now feeling overly stressed and overwhelmed. Foreman could see the panic in his face and knew that he was just protecting due to stress - so he simply rolled his eyes and shook his head.

_"She's bleeding from the mouth,"_ House spoke loudly before an argument between them could ensue. “There are two options for why. Option _one_ , she bit the hell out of her tongue because _somebody_ let the fit go on for too long, not gonna name any names; option two, she just _was_. And I’m hoping it’s option _one_ of the two.”

“Why? Option one means that she can sue the hell out of you for negligence - what does option two mean?” Foreman asked House directly.

“Well a number of things…above all, it means that she's sick," House muttered, rubbing his hands together.

"No, _really?!_ ” Chase gasped. There was no denying his sarcasm.

"Not just sick," House cut him off with a glare. He inhaled deeply and released it again. " _Dying._ And we have no idea why.”

“D-dying?" Chase spluttered. He felt his hands turn clammy as his eyes darted between Foreman and House. “Are you kidding? Millions of people have seizures…this is a bit… _dramatic_ , no?"

“Alright, we’re all dying - but she’s dying at a speed considerably faster than the rest,” House murmured as began to limp back out the office again. “Ya, millions of people have seizures but they also have underlying causes. We just…don’t know hers.” Foreman sighed - House’s words made sense.

But Chase was beyond himself at this point.

"House, she's your daughter! Your actual flesh and blood – would you _stop_ acting so relaxed? You…you treated her _mum_ better than this, and you couldn’t even _stand_ the woman!" he finally broke in a shouting rage. He was at his limit.

_“Chase!"_ Foreman hissed, tugging his arm and pulled him to the side whilst House kept walking ahead unfazed. Chase spun around to face him instead, his eyes still blazing with fury.

_"What?!"_

"You _cannot_ lose your cool. I know this is hard but we can’t start making exceptions just cos we know the patient,” Foreman told him calmly but also tactfully. “We’ve been putting up for House for over a year now. You know how it goes - the quicker we go along with the madness and put up with the little jabs, quips and jokes, the quicker we cure her, right?”

But Chase didn’t want to hear _that_ either, despite how reasonable Foreman’s words were.

" _No!_ I can't just pretend like I'm not concerned! You’re wrong, we _wouldn’t_ be this nonchalant for anyone else - we _would_ be concerned! What drugs are you all _on?_ ” he ranted angrily, his cheeks turning a deeper shade of red and his eyes getting wider the more exasperated he became. Foreman sighed helplessly before reaching into this pocket for his beeping pager - whilst Chase blindly went on. “Did you know that she’s not even my _girlfriend_ yet, and I’m already treating this more seriously than everyone-”

“Chase? Cam-”

“ _Cameron!_ That’s another issue that we’re gonna have to hash out thanks to House and it’s not even-”

"Cameron just paged me! Talia's awake again,” Foreman finally managed to get his words out, finally shutting Chase up. “She’s in pain. According to her, the medication hasn’t kicked in yet. This looks…. _neurological._ ”

…

“T?" Chase skidded across the polished floor to the bed where Talia was wired up, her face scrunched up in pain. She still had dried blood stains around her mouth and her eyes were streaming with tears of anguish and presumably pain. Knowing that she was hurting was enough to hurt Chase himself. He walked over to her and sat himself down beside her, his eyes full to the brim with sympathy. “Oh… _Talia_ …” he breathed as he reached out for her hand.

"Ch-Chase, my _head_ , oh my god it hurts _s-so m-m-much,_ " Talia sobbed feeling her eyes burn every time she tried to focus on that beautiful face of his. Her concentration was completely off because her entire body was in agony, to the point where she felt as if she would pass out at any second - but she couldn’t place the source of the pain. Chase clenched his jaw and shook his head helplessly. All he could do was dab the sweat from her forehead with the cool damp cloth that the nurses had been using earlier.

"I'm sorry, T. I’m so sorry," he muttered to her, genuinely lost for an explanation. “We’re…we’re gonna figure out what’s going on here. House will, you know he will. You just hang on in there, alright? We’re gonna get you better, I…I promise.” Talia gave a short nod as if she understood, but realistically, she knew that he had no idea how to diagnose her and that he was just trying to keep her calm.

"O-o-okay,” she sniffed out quietly. She shoved her knuckle into her mouth and bit down on it, hard, to try and distract herself from the pain. All Chase could do was watch the woman he was slowly falling for attempt to deal with her agony.

And then House hobbled into the room - with _Miranda_ of all people beside him, still dressed in her hospital gown. Talia's heart began to thump against her chest at the mere sight of her parents together.

_“_ Oh god no _. Get her outtttttt,”_ she wailed to Chase.

“Nope! Chase, _you_ get out," House quickly denied her request as he closed the blinds.

"Why?" Chase frowned, tearing his eyes away from Talia and over to her parents instead. "Is something wrong?"

"Well… _that's_ a really stupid question," House responded with an obvious roll of his eyes. Miranda tutted and sharply elbowed his side.

“Don’t be an _asshole_ , Greg,” she hissed. House rubbed the bruised area with a wince and went to settle himself at the foot of the whimpering Talia's bed, watching her with a look on his face that Chase couldn't read. Miranda sat down on the seat opposite him, cocking her head to the side as well, accidentally mirroring her ex partner. Chase was still frozen there, though, which made House groan irritably.

“Yes yes, we’ll take care of her should something happen, Blondie. I won’t let her drop again. Just leave us alone for a second." Talia and Chase glanced at each other briefly before Talia gave him a short nod of comfort. She, above all, still trusted House - bearing in mind she still _didn’t_ know that he almost let her drop off the bed during her last seizure just to quench his curiosity. So Chase sighed and got up, reluctantly making his way out of the ward.

“Such a handsome fella. How long have they been together for?” Miranda hummed lightly after hearing him slide the doors shut.

“They haven’t,” House answered simply. As they engaged in casual conversation, Talia felt her eyes start to cloud over again, much to her horror.

And just like that, not only did she see her parents in her room, but also the darkened figure standing in the doorway, not moving or flinching. Just standing there…solid.

So she screamed - _again._

“Awesome. Is _this_ what you were talking about?" House murmured to Miranda whilst wincing through the noise.

“ _Yes…_ she used to do this almost every night up until a few years ago. There was an incident that sparked them. She had to get help for it,” she answered him, fiddling with the ring on her finger as she watched her daughter go. “She’s hallucinating but she never really talks about what she saw. So you're saying it's not medical, it's _psychological_?"

“Yup. Tests have been squeaky clean, no infection, no tumours - nothing. The seizures are just as a response to whatever's going on up there," House shrugged slightly, wiggling his pen in the direction of Talia’s brain. It was incredible how they were even having a conversation over the sounds of her cries, begs and desperate pleas. House had seen enough of that, though. He hopped off the bed and shone his torch into her eyes, checking to see if her pupils were dilated or focussed. “Well, she’s certainly not seizing now." He chucked the torch down and clapped right in her face, and like a knee jerk reaction, she was immediately snapped her out of her distressed state. But her eyes were still full of terror.

_“Cool,”_ House murmured amusedly.

“House, _p-p-please_ get him out of here," Talia whispered, her voice cracking with desperation as she grabbed House's hand. Her nails were digging into his skin but he didn't seem to care – he found whatever she was afraid of _much_ more fascinating.

"Get _who_ out of here?" he urged her.

Suddenly, Miranda’s eyes went wide in realisation.

"House maybe its best that you just leave her. If she tells the story again it might-"

“Yeah yeah now _you’re_ starting to sound like Chase. Do you _want_ your kid to get better or not?" House snapped. Miranda bit down on her bottom lip anxiously as her stomach wrung into knots. She knew all too well why Talia didn't want anyone to know what sparked these seizures. She had always threatened her daughter with telling her secret when she was unwell, but now that she was mentally competent, she knew that she’d never _actually_ do it. "Talia, _who's here?_ ” House tried again persistently.

“R-Ryan," Talia panted, beginning to sweat profusely as her eyes began to glaze over. House glanced at the BP monitor and noticed that her pulse was increasing. He didn't want to push her to the point where she could trigger another seizure onto her already weak body, but he needed to know what she was talking about.

His curiosity had already gotten the better of him.

“House, that’s _enough!_ ” Miranda interrupted him again uncomfortably, now standing up and physically attempting to push House away. But then Talia’s eyes fell on her mother again, and, as if by magic - her heart rate regulated and her tears stopped running.

She’d suddenly snapped back into her old self.

“Um, House? Would you please be so kind as to _get out of my face?_ ” she murmured thickly, breaking eye contact with him and blinking over at her mum for answers.

And just like that, House knew he’d lost the perfect opportunity.

_"Damn,"_ he swore under his breath as he straightened himself up again. Talia licked her cracked lips, and did her best to ignore the fact that both of her parents were still staring at her in mass intensity. Then House decided to take another shot. “Talia, _who's Ryan?_ ”

Her heart shuddered to a halt.

“Um…I don’t know?”

“Yes you do!” House exclaimed frustratedly.

“No…I don’t,” she mumbled uneasily. “Sorry to disappoint. I’m gonna sleep now.” And with that, she lay down and closed her eyes, hoping that they’d both get the point and leave her alone.

She knew it was only a matter of time before her past caught up with her. But she had no idea how her father, Cuddy and her team would react if they knew that she was responsible for the **‘MISSING’** sign under all of Ryan Warner’s pictures - and that frightened her the most.

In fact, never mind her father, Cuddy and her team - what about _Chase?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year for when it comes and i'll see you all on the weekend for the next update! also, if you see the original of this story floating anywhere else...please feel free to redirect people over here or to my account on fanfiction.net! the fact that the original is still about is cringing me out as it is.
> 
> i appreciate you all so much and i can't wait for this story to unfold with you guys! x


	17. ignorance is hardly bliss

The way that life had somehow done a complete 180 since the day of the seizures was almost incredible.

Talia hadn’t budged, despite the pleas from Cameron and the gentle questions from Chase. She continued to insist that she didn’t know who Ryan was, nor that she knew why she’d said that name in the first place, and Cuddy had personally had enough of House pushing her to answer his questions - particularly once hearing that he had allowed her to seize to fill his own curiosity. She’d stated that he must respect Talia’s privacy or else he’d be taken off her case, so he had no choice but to leave it. He didn’t want Talia’s case out of his grasp.

But he soon discovered that there _was_ no case.

Talia’s second blood test results came back just as clear as the first, and even her second MRI scan revealed that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her brain and the lumbar had ruled out infections. But the hospital’s psych department had assessed her symptoms and put the cause of her seizures down to some form of accumulative PTSD and anxiety triggered by her mother’s sudden reappearance. House’s predictions of her seizures being psychological and not necessarily neurological as Foreman had assumed were accurate. So all the hospital could do from there was keep her for a few days of observation, prescribe her medication to regulate the seizures and anxiety disorder, and assign her a therapist. But they couldn’t _force_ her to go to her sessions, and she certainly didn’t do so.

Before they knew it, all of a week later, Talia was up and running again…and the most unnerving thing was that she had _completely_ ignored what had happened and nobody, including her, dared mention it again. She had turned back into her old self, playfully annoying Foreman, ignoring Cameron's _incredibly_ forced attempts to make friends with her and, when she wasn't on the job – well, she was making out with Chase somewhere.

House, by the way, absolutely _hated_ that. They were still discreet with it, but he could just tell that it was still going on somewhere and it made him shiver. It was like he’d been blessed with an anti-love sensor at birth.

"You've _gotta_ stop doing that," he was miserably scolding Talia this particular morning whilst he packed his bags in his living room. She glanced up from the piles of paperwork that she was filling out on the sofa, and squinted over the rim of her thick black reading glasses.

“Oh god, dare I ask - doing _what?_ "

"Getting _happy time_ with Chase. Just a week ago you were pretty much dying, now you’re acting like nothing’s changed. And we _still_ don’t know the trigger, which is irritating enough as it is,” House mumbled in annoyance. The idea of there being an unsolved case living under his own roof was enough to drive him mad.

But Talia just shrugged back at him and kept her cool.

“Seizures don’t always equate with death, so please stop being dramatic. And you _know_ the trigger, you just don’t believe it. No wonder you’re so agitated,” she answered smoothly.

“Oh please! The psych’s diagnosis was BS. Unless your mom’s name is now _‘Ryan’_ ,” House drawled back. Talia clenched her jaw and carefully skirted passed his words, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Regardless of what you think, I’m _fine_. The combined meds have stopped the seizures and lowered my anxiety levels. I’m declared fit to work. It was a little relapse, now the case is closed - so _drop it_ , House.”

“A ‘little relapse’ of a medical condition I didn’t even know you had,” House muttered back.

“You didn’t even know I _existed_ until a few months ago. And, in my defence, I wasn’t expecting the anxiety to be an issue. I genuinely thought I had recovered,” Talia shrugged slightly shamefully. There was a little silence as she turned her attention back to her papers - until House said something ridiculous.

“What if I fired you?” he tried, causing his daughter’s head to jerk up again.

“ _Fire me?_ ” she scoffed back as she shook her head. “No. You’re not gonna do that.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Me getting fired will equate to me leaving the hospital. Me leaving the hospital means that either way - you can’t get whatever answer you’re looking for. And _that_ will piss you off,” Talia shrugged back simply as she playfully clicked her pen. House let out a small sigh and kept quiet as she carried on. “And look, in terms of Chase, I don't know _what_ you would rather me do! We don’t make out in front of people, we barely even flirt during work. He makes me happy and I think I kinda deserve to be happy. Don’t you think, _Dad?_ ” she hummed cheekily. House let out a grunt of disgust and shook his head.

" _House_ , it's _House -_ _not_ dad! I’d even rather you call me _Greg_ ,” he stressed moodily as he zipped up his rucksack. “Anything but-”

“Yeah yeah, anything but the one name that implies we have something a little more than a boss slash employee relationship, so that you don’t feel obliged to become emotionally attached to me - I know. Give me a _break._ Effortlessly reading you like a book gets _boring_ sometimes," Talia drawled up at him with a little smile, leading him to give her the smallest of smirks back. Their relationship was strengthening in tiny amounts, despite House’s reluctance for it to do so.

Talia finally finished signing off the papers and then put her pen down with a short sigh. "Alright, what are you packing for, then? Out of hospital appointment, I see.”

“Nothing important,” House lied without looking up from his bag.

“Liar,” Talia muttered.

“I’m just gonna go and visit a friend.”

“ _Liar!_ You're going to Death Row - Cuddy already told me.” House rolled his eyes and stared at her in annoyance.

"Then _why_ bother asking?"

"To piss you off," Talia replied with a coy smile. " _And_ to see how easy it is for you to lie without even having to think about it. Kinda scary, actually.”

“Hey! I said _everybody_ lies - I know I see myself as this godly figure but am I not also part of ‘everybody’?” House shot back.

“So does that make you a _compulsive_ liar? Hmm…tune in next week to find out!” Talia sang tauntingly as she stood up from the sofa to make herself a coffee.

"Well aren't you just _adorable_ ," House muttered. He zipped up his bag and began to hobble towards the front door before briefly turning around to give her a fleeting look. "Can I entrust the team in your hands for a few hours?"

“Entrust the team whilst I’m still in my probation period? Absolutely not! Why can't you let me come with you?" Talia pleaded with her hands clasped together and her bottom lip jutted out. “I would do well in a prison!”

“Ya. I bet you would - but having to deal with you one on one for all that time in an enclosed space….it _frightens_ me," House told her firmly, making her roll her pretty coloured eyes back in sulkily. “Just…don't _kill_ anyone."

"Are you serious? You're leaving me for a few hours not a few years, and I’m meant to be sitting in on clinic duty anyway – I'll be fine," Talia giggled, shaking her head at him playfully before he left.

…

Later that same day, Talia was strolling down the hallways after sitting in about three hours worth of Clinic Duty observation. Unlike House, she didn’t mind it so much - and she was quite looking forward to being able to do it herself once she earned her permanent position here.

And then came the voice.

“Talia!” called the sudden exclamation of Cameron from somewhere behind her. Talia shoved her teeth into her plump bottom lip and threw her head back in irritation before spinning round.

“Dr Cameron!” she practically sang, forcing a bright smile onto her face. Cameron was such a sweet person, but sometimes Talia found her slightly overbearing, particularly after the seizures. She obviously had good intentions, but Talia still hadn’t shuffled the thought of her and Chase being together out of her mind. Chase still hadn’t spoken to her about it yet and Talia didn’t have the energy to bring it up. “What’s up?”

“Could you take a quick look at these test results for me? Just for a second opinion?“ Talia was admittedly taken aback at her request. And why shouldn’t she be? Cameron, who had been here for almost two years longer than her, looked as if she was asking for _her_ help?

“Er…sure? You've never needed a referral from me before,” Talia frowned as she carefully pulled Cameron aside from a huddle of oncoming chatting surgeons.

“Yeah, well I'm asking you _now_ ," Cameron hissed desperately, practically shoving the navy blue file into Talia's hands. Her eagerness was evident, so Talia rustled through the papers and assessed all the information presented in front of her with a little frown. Within seconds she’d come to the end of it, and could only blink back up at Cameron with a lost shrug.

It all seemed pretty clear to her.

“I mean…you’re asking for a second opinion, but I’ve never seen anything more straightforward," she sighed, handing the papers back. Cameron rolled her shoulders uncomfortably, one at a time.

“Are…are you _sure?_ Don’t you think I should-"

“Cameron, you’re not an idiot and you’re better at this job than me - you _know_ what you should do. You go and tell her that she’s dying,” Talia whispered seriously, giving Cameron’s a shoulder squeeze of comfort before heading towards her destination. But she could hear Cameron scurry after her from behind, and she just knew that she wasn’t giving up easily. Within a few moments, Cameron was by her side again. “Allison seriously, nothing I say is gonna change that diagnosis. It’s awful but you’re worrying far too much about-”

"Wouldn't _you?_ We all worried about you last week when we thought _you_ were dying!” Cameron pointed out as they briskly walked together.

“Oh see now _that's_ interesting, cos I recently heard that my own _father_ just sat there and watched me seize,” Talia frowned, stopping dead in her tracks and turning to her colleague. Cameron shuffled about uncomfortably at that point, leaning her weight from foot to foot. “Bite marks on my own tongue gave me the first clue.”

"Wow, Chase really _does_ tell you everything, doesn't he?” Cameron grumbled as her eyebrows knitted together in thought.

Strange statement.

"I mean….I wouldn't expect anything _less…?_ ” Talia frowned, not sure what she was implying. But before Cameron could explain herself, they had suddenly come face to face with her. The woman herself. The _one person_ that Talia was trying to get away from before her past could catch up to her for good.

Stacy Warner. But of course, because otherwise, life would be far too simple.

“Oh… _no._ No no no, _no,_ ” Talia groaned as quietly as possible, her hand hovering over her mouth as her eyes slowly fixated on Stacy in horror. It was as if the world had slowed down around her. “What…is _she_ doing here?” Cameron frowned at her question and her own eyes darted from Stacy to Talia and back again.

“Now now, T - _that_ isn’t a very nice welcome, is it?" came a cheeky voice as a tired looking Chase suddenly approached where Talia and Cameron stood.

“What, do you know her?” Cameron guessed quietly. It took everything within Talia not to scoff at her question.

Did she _know her?_

Talia had known the woman since she was younger, most commonly as her mother's best friend. Stacy tended to come round to Miranda’s house on a regular basis, and they used to drink red wine together and gossip in the living room until the early hours of the morning, whilst Talia and Luke were confined to their rooms so that they didn’t interrupt their little alcohol induced giggles and gasps. Talia’s spirit never really took to her very well - and for good reason.

Stacy, who had already spotted Talia herself, approached the small group with a certain amount of elegance…mixed with hesitance.

"Hello Talia," she gave a graceful and polite smile - which Talia didn’t _dare_ return. Cameron just made a brief 'this is awkward' grimace before dashing off to find Foreman for yet _another_ opinion on her case, whilst Chase stood there and watched both the women in interest.

“Don’t. _Please_ , don’t. Don’t force it. You don’t have to approach me, and I don’t even have to _acknowledge_ you,” Talia murmured carefully, looking dead into her eyes. “I’m going to walk past you now and we’re going to pretend as if this meeting never took place, yes? Safe journey home.”

“I’m sure you wish it could be that easy. I think we're going to have to have _some_ form of acquaintance, due to the fact that I now _work_ here," Stacy announced smoothly, crossing her arms.

Talia was on the edge at this point. First her mother, and now this?

"How is that even _possible?_ It's like all of my nightmares are following me into this _damn_ place! Can’t you all just leave me alone so that I can start my life again in _peace?_ " Talia hissed at Stacy painstakingly, whilst allowing herself to be quickly dragged away by Chase before she started to make a scene. Once he had safely got her into an empty ward, he spun her round by the shoulders to face him.

"T, you need to calm down, _right_ now," he hissed, holding her face in his hands and staring deep into her eyes to keep her focussed on him. Her chest was heaving with each laboured breath she took and Chase didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit, in fact. “ _Seriously,_ Talia. Breathe-”

“Chase, I’m _fine,_ ” Talia assured him sternly, nudging her head out of grip as her cheeks started to burn up under his touch. No matter how hard she tried or lied, she just couldn’t stop herself from panicking. “I…I just can’t stand the woman’s _guts_ -”

“So you _do_ know her?” Chase sighed as he dropped his head in despair. “How many more of these family members of yours can we _take?_ ”

“She’s not a family member, Chase - she’s _worse._ But you totally owe me drinks tonight. I think I need about forty shots at this point to make up for…well, everything,” Talia muttered miserably, causing Chase to chuckle and nod as those beautiful eyes of his twinkled away.

“I mean you shouldn’t really drink whilst on your meds but-” he started to answer - when suddenly, the door to the ward slid open and in ran an abundance of nurses, police officers and House himself. The nurses and paramedics were hurriedly pushing a hefty man on the stretcher, who was desperately gasping for air. Talia threw her head back with a groan, noticing the prison outfit on him, whilst Chase’s face grew dangerously pale as they both laid eyes on the felon.

"House," Chase began slowly, his voice hitting warning notes as the nurses managed to stabilise the prisoner.

_“Yes, Chase?"_ House drawled back innocently whilst batting his eyelids at him and leaning on his cane.

" _Please_ tell me that's _not_ the death row guy?” came Stacy's irritated voice from the doorway, causing House to look up at her surprise. He was lost for words. He didn’t even attempt to reply - whilst Talia clenched her jaw and watched them interact with baited breath.

"Of course it’s a man on death row," Cameron muttered in annoyance, walking over to join where they all stood clustered together. "Because _that's_ logical! I’m telling Cuddy.” Before House could bother stopping her, Stacy had pulled him out of the ward and into hallway so that they were fully out of earshot.

"You _did_ _not_ tell me that she was working here!” she hissed to him accusatorially. House rolled his eyes and looked her up and down.

“My apologies - I wasn't aware I had to tell you everything that happens in the entire world in the history of ever," he muttered, feeling his patience with her already slipping. “Plus, you didn’t tell me that you were planning on _working_ here. If I knew that then I would’ve told you to take the job in Brooklyn to avoid clashing with her. But then you’d start asking for reasons and then-”

"Well yeah, when it involves _Talia_ it would’ve been good to know, Greg!” Stacy snapped furiously. House said nothing and simply lowered his head, so Stacy spoke again instead, this time a little quieter than before. “Did you finally find out what happened to my son?” Again, House gave no response. “ _Has she told you what happened to Ryan, House?!_ Because I know _damn_ well she hasn’t forgotten,” Stacy's voice had hints of desperation in it, mixed with a helping of accumulated anger and heartbreak. “Or is she conveniently missing that all out of her life stories to all these new people as _usual?_ ”

" _I told you_ I'm working on it. She was close to saying something but…she’s not even trying anymore,” House insisted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Even when it threatened her own health. She’d rather die with it.”

“Well…well then think of something else _._ I deserve to know why she did that to my son, House. The _police_ may have dropped the case, but I sure as hell haven’t,” were Stacy's final cold words before she swept back down the hallway again, leaving House standing there staring after her longingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, we all love a semi-healthy somewhat unusual and borderline confusing father/daughter relationship, am i right?!


	18. under pressure

Everyone had already caught wind of Talia and Stacy’s dislike for each other - and she had only been on the premises for all of a few hours. But word spread fast, and for House, Cuddy and Chase, her appearance was about to make life in that hospital _extremely_ awkward and tedious.

“Alright so have you redone _all_ the tests?" Chase was asking Cameron that afternoon as he stared at the papers that she’d abruptly handed him on entry.

“Yeah, of course I have," Cameron sighed shakily, waiting for Chase to say something, or _anything_ else. But all she was met with was silence - so she soldiered on regardless. “I’ve…I’ve redone them a good few times now, in fact.”

"Well then I’m not sure what else you’re expecting me to say, Allison?” Chase frowned almost sadly as he passed her back the results. Cameron took them from him and gulped uncomfortably. “It all looks pretty clear to me. It’s terminal - she’s dying.” Cameron clenched down on her jaw and shook her head, biting back her next words of protest.

_"I agree!”_ came House’s cold, dry voice as he hobbled in with Talia and Foreman walking on either side of him. “And for the love of _GOD_ , Cameron - _please_ don’t tell me that is the same damn case that you asked me about earlier? She is _dying_ , people die - get over it." Talia, Chase and Foreman all stared at him in collective disgust, not expecting him to be so blunt. But it was House - and he clearly couldn’t care less about whose feelings he hurt.

Ever.

" _So_ , turns out the Death Row guy has been taking drugs!"

_"Shock, horror!!”_ Talia rolled her eyes as she slammed herself into a seat.

"Wait, wasn’t the guy locked up in like, a high security prison? How did he get his hands on _drugs?_ " Chase questioned House, genuinely baffled. Foreman blinked over at him in disbelief.

" _Seriously?_ How did ya'll get porn magazines at the nunnery place?” he scoffed.

“Uhh…we…didn’t?” Chase frowned back, now resembling a sad confused blonde puppy. He blinked around at the rest of the room with lost eyes. “Wait, was that meant to be satire?" Talia smiled to herself, secretly admiring how innocent he was.

“Hey now Foreman, you can't generalise. Not everyone had the thrilling childhood that you had. I mean some of us had such _boring_ lifestyles - I’m sure you can appreciate that? We’re not all…hip and cool like you,” House gave such a fake smile that it turned Foreman's playful smirk into a scowl, whilst Talia’s mouth hung open in adamant surprise.

“House!” she hissed whilst Cameron covered her eyes and groaned at his audacity. “ _Slight_ microagression from you there, don’t ya think?”

“He _knows_ that, he just doesn’t care. In a world outside of these four walls, some black people would actually be offended by his comments,” Foreman murmured back to her.

“Some? I’d say most!” Talia agreed with an exasperated yelp. House just made a boo-hoo face at them both and changed the topic.

“Hey. I’m not racist - Foreman’s here, isn’t he? Equality for all! Anyway, point being, I need someone to go and check out the big man’s cell and see what he was sniffing in secret," he announced, leaning on his cane. Cameron couldn't help but glance expectantly at Foreman, who threw his hands up in despair.

"Fine! Fine I'll-"

"Chase and Talia, you're up,” House spoke over him, much to his surprise.

"What?" Talia let out a short laugh in disbelief as Chase screwed up his face in silent protest. "You've never put just us two on a _house_ search before, let alone a _prison._ "

“Uh…ya, I have," House reminded them slowly. "But the only things that you had upturned in _that_ house were the bed sheets-”

"No, _again_ House - that was just your presumptions based on Foreman’s snitching. The patient’s mattress was riddled with lice, even I wouldn't go that far," Chase shuddered to himself with disgust. "I have standards, you know?”

“Yes and since we’re all being so blunt about our sex life - we haven’t even _had_ sex yet - doubt we’d break that lovely intimate moment for the first time on someone else’s lice infested bed. But thank you kindly for your adamant words of concern!” Talia put it out there shamelessly as Chase, Cameron and Foreman winced in secondhand embarrassment. House gave a shudder and leaned his forehead on his cane.

“Thanks. You’ve now put me off the salad that I had no plans on eating,” he groaned in disgust. “Junior, you go and start up the car. You other two, go and get some bloods, bye bye. Chase - you…come here for a second." Chase stopped walking with a frown whilst Talia headed straight out with the other two, clearly not bothered on why he got held behind.

"What's up?" Chase asked curiously once they had gone.

"I need you to find out about this Ryan guy for me.”

“Who?” Chase blinked, completely lost.

“Exactly. _Whoever_ it is, he’s got something to do with the causes of her seizures. Ya know - since we’re still kinda diagnosing?” House replied breezily. That certainly caught Chase off guard.

“We _are?_ But she’s better-”

“No, she’s _acting_ like she’s better. I know that you can be a little slow with this stuff, but trust me on this one. This is nowhere near done yet. The battle is…still on. It’s just silent,” he muttered. Chase said nothing and just nodded before leaving the office with his hands shoved in his pockets. He’d love to debate it, but truthfully - he was just as curious as House himself.

He wanted to know as much as anyone.

…

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Talia asked Chase as he drove them both towards the secluded maximum security prison.

“Sure. What about, dare I ask?” he joked back whilst securely keeping his eye on the road.

“What are we?” Brilliant. Every guy’s favourite question - and it took everything within Chase not to roll his eyes and groan. It wasn’t like a woman hadn’t asked him that before, but for it to come from Talia put him under even more pressure to actually answer correctly.

His initial reaction was to do the typical guy thing and moan about it, though - much to Talia’s irritation.

“Ahhhh really?” he winced, sneaking a brief peek at her to gage where or not she was being serious. “We’re really doing this _now?_ ”

“When would you _like_ to do it?” Talia muttered back to him with narrowed eyes.

“Literally any other day. Any other day but this one!” Chase exclaimed back.

“Alright you know what, it was just a question, Chase - so feel free not to answer if it’s genuinely paining you to this extent,” Talia rolled her eyes back irritably. Chase took a deep breath in through his nose and let it out again with a long, fed up sigh. He didn’t want to upset her again.

“Are you… _indirectly_ asking why I haven’t asked you to be my girlfriend yet?” he winced uncomfortably. Talia bit her bottom lip and gave an unenthusiastic one shouldered shrug, not daring to look over at him.

“Not necessarily…? I don’t know. It’s just so _weird_ between us and it’s beginning to grate at me. I feel like we _act_ like a couple, and we’re pretty much always _referred to_ as a couple and have been since the beginning, especially after House kinda got over himself,” she began to explain as carefully as possible. “You’ve even called me your girlfriend to a patient last week, remember? Is it because we’ve only had _one_ real date night and even that stopped halfway? Are we slipping into just being colleagues with benefits? Cos if so, Chase, we can stop that here. The benefits alone are only making out with the odd flirt here and there and as enjoyable as it is…that’s not even worth it, you know?” Chase let out another drawn out sigh as the car slowly came to a red light, and he turned to look at her straight on.

“The truth is, T…I…I like you, quite a lot in fact - but I honestly have no idea how we would even work together…relationship wise,” he murmured, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. There was no denying that at that point, Talia was feeling terribly nauseous as to where this conversation was heading and she almost wished that she never asked - but she expertly kept herself composed regardless. Men were complicated when it came to certain things, and she wasn’t going to let something like _this_ damage her.

Her mother would never thank her for it, because she raised her to be much stronger than that.

“Oh. I…I was under the impression that we were working towards something, but I’m sorry that you feel otherwise,” she spoke slowly to keep the shakiness of uncertainty and adamant devastation far from her voice. “I guess I just assumed-”

“Woah wait, we are! We _are_ working towards something, Talia," Chase quickly reassured her, his blue eyes going wide as he placed the hand that wasn’t on the steering wheel on her thigh in comfort. Talia couldn’t even hold it in - she let out a shaky breath of relief and Chase quickly picked up on it, now realising that she had gotten the wrong idea about his words. "I just _worry_ about you, that's all. And I really do wanna pursue something with you, I meant it when I implied that with the whole pen thing, but you have to _try_ and be open with me. Forget the number of dates we’ve had - we’re together 24/7, so that’s not really a problem. I just feel like our entire relationship would be based on anxiety and secrecy and that genuinely freaks me out a little,” he finished off honestly. Talia just cocked her head to the side in silent contemplation and ran her fingers through her hair.

“I get it-”

“Like, that time that you were seizing? Yeah, _that_ frightened the sh*t out of me, and I was the only one on the team freaking out like that. I wanna be there for you as a boyfriend would but it’s like…you won’t let me get that close. You won’t let anyone get that close, in fact. You just breezed past it and never let anyone mention it again, and whilst that’s fine for your colleagues - that’s not ‘normal couple’s’ behaviour,” Chase suddenly continued on, now on a more comfortable and confident roll to say what he had been feeling for so long. “It’s actually like the baby situation all over again.”

“Yeah, _I get it_ , but you don't _have_ to worry about me, Chase. I'm absolutely fine. I’ve coped with that issue all on my own for a _long_ time now, and sometimes it helps if everyone around me just continues on as usual too,” she reminded him lightly, trying not to turn the conversation too serious although she could already sense _exactly_ where he was heading with it.

"Yeah, I know. You’re independent and you’re wonderfully stubborn. But that was before you met me. Now, you’ve got me to look out for you and I am gonna try my hardest to do that. Above all - that’s what Cuddy wanted me to do. You’re _shadowing_ me, remember?” Chase pointed out slowly, his eyes back on the road and both hands on the steering wheel again. Talia attempted to say something to change the conversation’s direction, but soon found that she couldn't even get the words out. She liked Chase, she liked him _so_ much and he was here practically confessing that he was ready to look after her - despite all her ‘flaws’.

That _was_ what he was saying, right? So then how could she push him away? It wasn’t fair.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, I _know_ I’m not making this easy for you. I’m used to trying to keep everyone at…uh…arms length, I guess,” she finally sighed, placing her hand on his knee instead. “I’ll…I’ll try and be more open with you. And I _mean_ it this time.” Chase nodded and waited a few empty moments as her words soaked in, before taking a deep breath and speaking again.

This was what he’d been waiting for.

"So…then…I was wondering. What…what actually happened to that Ryan guy? Like, who is he?”

_Terrible_ move on his part.

There was that sudden fuzzing noise in Talia's ear, crawling into her earlobe like an insect would, and she quickly found that she couldn't breathe properly – but she refused to have another one of these things again. Not in a _car_ , of all places. She had to hold it together - but why was he dong this to her? Surely as a doctor he knew better?

“Chase, p-p-please-”

“Talia hun, no one knows who this guy is, but if we get to the bottom of it then maybe your seizures can actually stop! Not even House knows-”

“Oh of _course_ House knows who he is! Especially if she’s…oh god, Chase. Did he put you up to this? Please don’t make me talk about it-”

_“Talia.”_

They were both as on the edge as each other, at this point.

" _Alright!_ Oh my god, fine. Ryan…" Then the hot tears started to dribble out as if a tap had been turned on, concerning Chase immediately. He hadn’t a clue what she was about to say but he could tell that it was going to be serious. "Ryan was…my best friend. W-well, he…uh…he was my best friend _at first_ , at least.” Chase nodded and listened intently.

"Go on, babe. It’s okay,” he softly encouraged her.

"We were best friends from a young age, because our mums knew each other. We pretty much grew up together and then one day, when we were in our teens, he told me that he loved me. So we started seeing each other and p-p-pretty soon after, we turned our friendship into a relationship,” Talia explained shakily, keeping her eyes on her hands in her lap.

“So you were together? He was a boyfriend?” Chase noted for when he reported back to House. Talia nodded without looking up at him. “How old were you guys when you first started dating?”

“Young. _Super_ young,” she replied in a quiet, nervous voice. “I was about 14 when we started dating.” She said nothing else. It was obvious that Chase was going to have to pry with deliberate questions to get the real core of the issue out.

“Did something…bad happen?” he asked her carefully. Still no answer. “What…uh…what kind of person was he?”

“Um, at first, he was lovely. So sweet. Very protective. He was a couple of years older and he was working and his mother…she’s a lawyer. So he came from money, and she’d pretty much gotten him his own place,” Talia murmured as the nausea started to fill her stomach.

“His own place at so young?” Chase frowned quietly.

“Yeah. He must’ve been about 18 going on 19 but yeah. I moved in with him at 16 and my mum _let me_ because she knew him and trusted him too, and everything was sweet—” Talia suddenly stopped there and bit her bottom lip so hard that it started to bleed - and as her mouth filled with blood, it forced her to stay quiet. She didn’t want to go any further, because after that section of the story, she knew that it was just going to get worse. There was no cute story after that. No happy ending whatsoever.

In fact, it was hell.

"Babe? Continue," Chase glanced over at her as he pulled up to the prison.

“No point, Chase - we’re here,” Talia murmured with tearful eyes, nudging her head toward the prison grounds and unbuckling her seatbelt. Chase let out a small groan and held her arm, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"T, _come on_ , you were so close to-"

"Chase, there is a dying guy in that hospital and the sooner we find whatever he's sniffing, the sooner we can get him better so that he can come back to this hospital and die - ironically. Maybe then I'll finish the story, but for now we have to go and you _know_ we do. Doctors first, sob stories after. It doesn’t even matter,” she whispered, before opening the car door and swinging her long legs out. Chase gave a grunt of irritation and, knowing she was right, followed her out of the vehicle.

The deflection was clear, and so after reporting it back to House on his return, Chase didn’t plan on mentioning it again for a while. He had one foot through the door, though - and that was all he could’ve hoped for.

For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello my sweet angels. there's an upcoming (mini) storyline regarding chase and a little girl who is a cancer patient and is infatuated with him (if you guys remember the show well you'll know what episode i'm talking about) and although i originally included it in my story a few years back...reading it back again is making me really rather uneasy? the whole storyline makes me wanna take an eternal shower. so i know i said i'd stick to the story to a T and i still plan to, but that case might need some tweaking. it's really hard to explain but when we get to that chapter you'll see what i mean!
> 
> might post two chapters next week because i have a little filler chap that won't be normal length!
> 
> lots of love and thank you for such lovely wordsssss xx


	19. gluten free ravioli

A good few days of slightly awkward silence and working on the same death row case later, Talia grabbed her black denim jacket after a long shift and shoved it on. She had a neck ache, sore muscles _and_ a headache, the worst headache possible in fact, and now she just wanted to go home and lock herself in a dark room.

But Chase had other plans, and he wanted to make sure it all came into fruition.

“T, are you off now?” he asked as he met her in the cloakroom.

“Yup _._ House has another hour of clinic duty a la Cuddy, but now that I have my own car, I don’t have to wait,” Talia yawned back, releasing her her hair from the neat ponytail it was in and clicking her neck from side to side to relieve some of the pressure. Then she raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Why? You look like you have plans yourself.”

“I was thinking of making some, yeah,” Chase smirked as he leant up against the lockers with his arms folded. “Fancy an _actual_ date tonight? Like, almost a month after our failed one?”

“I mean, sure…only if it’s inside your house,” Talia smiled lightly, walking up to him with a hand cupped onto her warm forehead.

“Why? You okay?” Chase frowned at her as he pulled her into him by the small of her waist.

“Not really, no. I have a headache, and it _kills_. Therefore I don’t feel like going anywhere. So unless you wanna wait-”

“Nope! Fine by me - come over,” Chase chuckled down at her. Talia squinted her eyes at him as she carefully mulled his offer over, and Chase could see that she was on the verge of saying no for whatever reason. “C’mon, T! I’ll make it super special and worth your time?” he persuaded her with an apprehensive wince.

“Mhmm… _fine._ Dim the lights and I’m there,” Talia finally caved in before pressing a little confirmative kiss onto his plump lips. Once they broke apart, she threw him a wink and flounced off, whilst Chase watched her leave with amusedly risen eyebrows. He still hadn’t found out the full story surrounding Ryan yet, and he was aware that House was still impatiently waiting for answers, but he also knew that he’d have to go about it tactfully - and more to the point, he much preferred it when she _wasn’t_ in floods of tears in front of him. So what else could he do, but put it on hold?

As Talia continued to make her way down the Princeton-Plainsboro’s hallway to leave, lost in deep thought about what she was going to wear for this evening’s improv date with Chase, she distantly heard someone further down the hallway calling her name.

Just before clocking out, as usual.

Holding her breath, she briefly looked up to see Dr. Cuddy waving her over with a tall, hugely built and rather wide man in an expensive black suit beside her - and her eyebrows flew up in surprise. She approached them a little hesitantly - something about the stature of the man made her wobble slightly.

“Hi,” she smiled anxiously, giving them a little wave.

“Doctor Talia, I want to introduce you to Mr Edward Vogler. _He_ is the man we can thank for donating $100million to our hospital and he’ll be overseeing everything that I oversee,” Cuddy introduced them to each other with a polite smile. “Ed, this is Talia House, daughter of-”

“Gregory House,” Vogler nodded as he quickly shot out his hand for her to take. “Pleasure to finally meet you. Daughter of a legend, so I hear.”

“Ah…sure, something like that. Good to meet you too,” Talia beamed back, shaking his hand firmly. “$100 million, huh? That _is_ generous. We could do _so_ much with it-”

“I know, right?” Cuddy smiled forcibly through gritted teeth. “As you can imagine, I’m _really trying to keep that in mind from here on out._ ”

“Understood,” Talia hummed. It was obvious that she was referring to her father not upsetting anyone for as long as Vogler was around - as if telling Talia would make a damn bit of difference. She couldn’t control his madness as it was.

“So…you’re House by talent and by blood - are you House by morals and practice?” Fogle suddenly asked with a sternly risen brow, his question certainly catching her off guard. Talia’s stormy grey eyes briefly fluttered over to Cuddy and she shot her the smallest of smirks back, staying as quiet as she should so that she could take it head on.

“Errr…no. My father is a very… _particular_ man and, although he always gets the job done, his practices are very specific to him,” Talia finally spoke confidently with a little nod. “That specified mentality doesn’t tend to work with I work personally. We _are_ two different people after all.” A perfect, polished, press-ready answer. She watched intently as Vogler crossed his thick arms in interest.

“Um…Talia here is one of our most trusted new recruits. Not a bad word against her yet,” Cuddy rushed out quickly, placing a firm supportive hand on Talia’s shoulder as she spoke. She shot her a thankful smile.

“Well I should certainly hope so. Isn’t that how doctors are meant to work? Or has Dr. House made us forget what _humane_ practice is like?” Vogler blinked back at her, awaiting her answer. Cuddy and Talia’s smiles slipped slightly as his bluntness struck a chord or several with each one of them.

“Again - House is specific, but he _always_ gets the job done and saves lives in the process - which is _also_ how doctors are meant to work,” Talia reminded Vogler with a much firmer grimace than before. “Anyway! Please, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go home and take a nap. I have a _terrible_ headache.” And with that, she gave them all a polite nod before quickly scurrying away.

As if Stacy looming around the hospital wasn’t enough.

…

That evening, Talia knocked on Chase’s door apprehensively, a complete bundle of nerves. She had no idea what to expect as she’d never even _been_ to his house before, and whilst she was anxious, she was also excited to see what it looked like. She decided to wear her slightly baggy ‘mom jeans’ with a ribbed white crop top, and her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail because having hair in front of her face whilst fighting a headache just agitated her even more. Chic-casual, you may call it.

Before long, Chase swung open his front door.

It was so strange seeing him in casual wear, a black t-shirt and dark jeans - but he looked _incredible_. The dark tones in his outfit just made his eyes stand out more, and Talia felt her knees become all wobbly beneath her, but in a good way this time. “Hey beautiful,” he grinned, holding his arms out for a hug.

“Heyyyy you,” Talia beamed back as she fell into his arms to hug him back. His hands wrapped around her waist and hers around his torso as they squeezed each other tightly, something that they didn’t get to do often unless they ran into each other before they left their shifts. Once they let go of each other again, Chase led Talia inside into his apartment, and she was pleasantly surprised and utterly _flattered_ at the effort he had put into the decoration.

There were tea candles on his shelves and on his table that were dimly lighting up the living room, a long neatly set dining table in the open plan living room area,juicy red rose petals that were sitting in bowls of water dotted about everywhere and soft jazz music playing away in the background.

It was just _perfect_. No one had ever done something like that for her before.

“Oh _Robert…_ ” Talia breathed in awe, placing a stunned hand on her chest and taking a few surprised steps back. Chase just let out a little chuckle and took her coat from her, giving him a chance to see her what she was wearing a bit better. He couldn’t help but stare at her figure just a little, but Talia barely registered his gaze. Her eyes were still gulping down her surroundings, which also gave Chase the perfect opportunity to slip into the kitchen and serve dinner. Talia snapped herself out of her daze and spun around again, just in time to see him carry two bowls containing something steaming over to his decorated glass dining table, so she slid across to join him. He placed the plate down in front of her so that she could see the contents of the bowl. It was same pasta that she was meant to order at the restaurant all those many weeks ago - and the order was spot on, too.

“It’s gluten free pasta, by the way. I hope it tastes alright, I tried my best,” Chase grimaced her as pulled the chair out for her so that she could sit, before settling himself down opposite her. Talia giggled and, before she knew it, felt her eyes stinging with tears. But all this did was absolutely confuse Chase to no end. “Woah. Do…do you not _like_ gluten free ravioli anymore?”

“N-no, I _do_ ,” Talia smiled up at him tearfully. “It’s just…this is so much effort to go through for someone, for _anyone_ in fact. You’ve _really_ put thought into this and it means so much to me. Like, _so_ much.”

“Oh stop. It wasn’t a big deal,” Chase smirked as he picked up his fork. “I always owed you a proper date. I had to do it before the one month turned into two which turned into three-”

“I’m just surprised you’ve continued to pursue me after all this stress. Seizures, secrets, mood swings, serious lack of communication, daughter of your absolute _twat_ of a boss who now has another absolute _twat_ after him like a damn bloodhound,” Talia ticked off all the reasons on her slender fingers, although her shoulders drooped lower at the mention of each one. When she put it simply, hearing all of it in one go was her idea of hell - and all it did was make her just that _little_ more insecure. “Chase, why do you even bother with me?” she ended up sniffing glumly as her entire mood shifted from pleased to flat out embarrassed at how much of a mess her life was.

“Why? Because you’re beautiful, you have a big heart, you’re a great doctor who is insanely clever, you’re confident, you know what you want and you’re beautiful,” Chase answered smoothly without missing a beat. Talia giggled at his words and wiped her tears with her sleeve again. “The other day, when we went to the prison, I…I shouldn’t have made you feel like you had to tell me all your past secrets with no warning. There’s time for that, and when you’re ready, you can tell me, okay? I swear, there’s no rush and I _won’t_ push you like that again. It wasn’t fair on you and I’ve been regretting it ever since that car journey.”

That’s when Talia understood what was going on - this was one big apology for something that she had already forgotten had even happened.

“Oh _Robert_ ,” she cooed, finally picking up her fork and poking at her steaming ravioli sitting in a thick tomato sauce. “That’s so sweet of you. The fact that you even have that level of regret…wow. You would honestly make the _best_ boyfriend.” Chase’s eyes lit up before he could stop them and he put his own fork down, picking up his glass instead.

“You really think so?”

“Think? I _know_ so,” Talia frowned up at him as if it was obvious, popping a tasty hot ravioli chunk into her mouth. “I wouldn’t be pursuing you so hard if I didn’t think that.” Chase took a deep, shaky breath and put down his wine glass. This was the moment. He couldn’t think of a more perfect time.

“Then…let me show you for real.”

Talia’s plump lips parted open in surprise and her eyes widened. Her heart started racing. Her nerves were already acting up.

_“P-Pardon?”_

“Let me show you, Talia,” Chase repeated a little quieter as he watched her stand up from her chair.

_“Doctor Robert Chase,”_ Talia spoke carefully and slowly, walking over to where he sat whilst Chase bit back a smile. “Are you…i-is this…are you officially asking me to be…your _girlfriend?_ ” She settled himself on his lap and his arms automatically wrapped around her waist, and he smirked up at her as their eyes connected deeper than they ever had before. “Is that _basically_ what you’re asking me right now?”

“Listen I _knowww_ this is our first technically full date in the three nearly four months of knowing each other, and that honestly, the beginning of us has been a _little_ messy for… _all_ parties involved,” Chase began to sigh as he placed one hand on the side of Talia’s face, lightly stroking her cheek with his thumb and sending shivers down her spine.

“A _little?_ I spat _blood_ in your face a couple of weeks back,” Talia drawled as her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. “It’s been _more_ than messy, Chase.”

“Fine, yeah it has,” Chase grinned as Talia raised an eyebrow. “But still…I see something good with us and I really can’t ignore it. I feel like I’ll be kicking myself for ages until I do something about it. And if I’m asking too early then I’m happy to reign it in a little-”

“Oh Chase shut _up_ for once - of course I’ll be your girlfriend!” Talia giggled as their foreheads finally touched. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask this since the first bloody day we met you idiot!”

“I _know_ , but I hate feeling like I’m rushing things but-” Chase began to wince in his defence - but Talia had already locked lips with him hungrily, the two of them completely beyond belief that one kiss could make them feel so good as they entangled themselves in each other’s arms around that dining table.

It’s a good thing his sofa was a few feet away, to be honest. Because the rest…is history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you don't remember this chapter in the original story, it's because...it wasn't there. on reread i noticed that Chase and Talia didn't even confirm their relationship, they just kinda vaguely somewhat accepted that they were together, which AGITATED me so i had to fix it on rewrite. it's a filler chapter and your next piece of drama will still be here on Saturday!
> 
> alsoooo does anyone remember Vogler? because i HATED him. i even hate writing about him.


	20. andie the cancer patient

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: this chapter includes the mention of molestation and domestic abuse - if that’s a sensitive subject for you, please feel free to skip it out and message me for an overview so you don’t miss out on the storyline. enjoy my loves.

Chase and Talia's relationship was going swimmingly well since they had made it official a week ago - although nobody knew because they still hadn’t told anyone. But that was because it was still in it’s delicate stages, particularly with both Stacy _and_ Vogler still hovering relentlessly all over the place; added with the constant uncertainty of who Ryan was and what had happened to him - so it had literally come to the point where _anything_ could push them both over the edge.

And that ‘anything’ happened to be a sixteen year old girl.

It all started in the MRI room one innocent Tuesday morning. “Alright. Let’s lay you down and I'll attach this…thingamajiggy,” Chase smiled to the pretty young teen as he prepped her for the x-ray, whilst Talia remained in the observation room waiting patiently for him to begin. She found the girl, Andie, extremely endearing because of her outstanding bravery alone. She was only sixteen and was quite shy due to being overly sheltered by her paranoid mother, but she was also so strong that it marvelled Talia.

And it appeared that she was _very_ witty, too.

“Thingamajiggy? You mean the sat monitor?" Andie frowned up at Chase. Talia laughed slightly and shook her head.

"Yeah _, Doc_ \- get it _right,_ ” she used the intercom to tease him.

“Sorry, didn’t realise I was dealing with a pro! I like it," Chase smirked down at Andie.

“Yup. I am just _that_ good,” she poked out her tongue out at him.

“This thing doesn't hurt or anything, does it?" Chase frowned in concern.

“What, the sat monitor? No, it's awesome! Saves a lot of needles and time,” Andie waved him off, causing Talia’s dark eyebrows to shoot up in surprise.

“Wow, are they endorsing you for all that free promo?” she grinned into the mic again.

“I _wish!_ ” Andie giggled back at her through the glass. “Maybe _that_ could pay for my damn driving lessons.”

“You wanna learn how to drive, huh?” Talia hummed in interest, leaning on her hand. Andie nodded - but it was a sad nod.

“My mom…she’d never allow it. _Ever,_ ” she muttered bitterly. Chase and Talia exchanged little looks with each other before quickly regaining composure.

“Well, for now - can I interest you with a walk in the park?" he offered up brightly. He clicked a button on the monitor’s remote and the walls surrounding them morphed into a beautiful natural scenery with pink blossoms blooming everywhere.

But Andie was less than impressed.

“Um…pass."

“Okay…” Chase tried again and clicked another button. “How aboutttt…butterflies?”

“Nope. No offence, but I’m not 12. Plus, it doesn’t matter what the walls look like – you're still looking for cancer, right? My life remains pretty sucky, no matter how colourful they make it,” Andie sighed blankly. Talia leaned back in her chair and crossed her slender arms across her chest as she watched on. She had never really thought of it that way. At this point, there was no doubt about it - Andie’s outlook on life absolutely _astounded_ her. Only _then_ did she understand why House found her so interesting. He had a thing for nonconforming patients like these.

"Actually, today we’re looking for infections, not cancer,” Chase began to correct her.

“But you make a good point regardless, Andie,” Talia inputted quickly, not wanting them to come across as invalidating. Andie shot her a smile whilst Chase began to fix up the machine to start the procedure.

"Alright, let's get this over with," he hummed to himself.

“You set that up fast! A pro," Andie smirked up at him instead. "I like it." Talia raised her eyebrows again and giggled under her breath. A teenager having a crush on her boyfriend – how _cute._

Right?

…

"Oh she's just the _sweetest_ thing _,_ " Talia was gushing to Cameron and Foreman later that day as they waited for House to hobble his way in. “Pretty little angel, too. Not to mention that she has the _cutest_ little crush on Dr. Chase over there." Chase just rolled his eyes and carefully ignored them, focussing on the case file in front of him instead.

"Chase _always_ gets the admirers," Cameron frowned playfully, “though I can _never_ understand why."

"Well you should, giving that once you were once one of them, Cameron," came House's tired and bored drawl from the office doorway as he finally entered. Cameron’s cheeks tinged red, Foreman winced and Talia simply bit her lips and stayed quiet, ensuring not to look at anyone. "Alrighty, what have we got with our sweet little dying teenage brat so far? Woah. That was _way_ too many adjectives-”

“Wellll….her tox screens and MRI came back squeaky clean," Talia began with a little sigh. But, before she could continue, House had yanked the results from her hands and clicked his tongue in thought instead.

“Yeeeaaaah see, _I_ beg to differ. Oxygen saturation is 94%, so no they’re _definitely_ not-"

"Um, her oxygen levels are…normal?” Foreman frowned.

“Um _no_ , they’re one percent out?” House pointed out with an obvious glare, making sure to match his sceptical tone.

"But still within the normal range…therefore, thus, this meaning they are in fact… _normal?_ ” Chase blinked, totally lost at what point he was trying to make.

"Ah, but if her DNA were one percent off she’d be a dolphin!" House reminded them whilst wagging a finger in the air. The team all stared at each other dubmfoundedly for a few moments before Talia carried the diagnosis on.

“Well…it’s a _good thing_ we’re not looking for DNA counts then, isn’t it?” she rolled her pretty eyes back in exasperation. “It is _very much normal_ , House.”

“Regardless, the problem is with her _lungs_ ….not her heart. Debating oxygen levels is pointless until we get to the root of the lung problem,” Cameron inputted quickly, gaining a supportive nod from Talia on the side.

“But a lung problem doesn't cause hallucinations,” Foreman muttered.

“True - but it could easily lead us to whatever _does_ ," Chase nodded, standing up already.

“Anddd welcome to the end of the thought process! Please collect all of your items and bags as you exit the cart. And whilst you guys are getting a plethysmography, I'm getting cream cheese bagels. Anyone want one?” House offered up with a blink. The team rolled their eyes back at him. “No? Fine by me! I didn’t plan on getting you one anyway!” he called out as he swept out of the room.

…

All that Chase’s official girlfriend confirmation had pushed Talia to do, was to actually come clean with the heaviest thing weighing on her heart. But before telling Chase everything, she had to speak to the woman that was arguably affected by her actions the most.

Stacy.

Talia and Stacy obviously couldn’t avoid each other forever, especially because Talia had been biting back so much about Ryan that she was almost fit to bust. Perhaps telling Stacy would help clear her conscience? Then she could move on to telling Chase? Then maybe the seizures could finally stop and she wouldn’t have to continue taking this dreaded medication that kept her feeling permanently nauseous, light headed and exhausted.

So Talia knocked on Stacy’s office door that same day once she got a free hour and Andie went in for more tests. She was certainly not ready for whatever could be thrown at her face, but she was determined to at least try. "Yes?" came the smooth voice from inside the office that made her skin crawl. Talia took a deep breath before opening the door and hesitantly poking her head through. Once Stacy glanced up and saw that it was her, she swiftly put down her pen and crossed her arms instead.

She was totally ready on the defence line, of course.

“Wow, Talia. On your own? _Without_ Doctor Chase? A sight for sore eyes,” she muttered out cockily. Talia gritted her teeth and walked in all the way, shutting the door behind her. She then anxiously approached Stacy's desk whilst fiddling with her fingers.

“Yeah, I _can_ cope without him for a few seconds. He’s…he’s in the test lab with our patient," she answered slowly. "Can I have a word, please?” Stacy took a brief moment to reply, but eventually waved her hand to imply that she could continue - before picking her pen back up, clearly not in the mood to pay attention.

But Talia still sat down opposite her and began regardless. It was now or never.

“Your son…your son isn’t dead. At least I don’t _think_ he is - in fact, I _know_ he’s not,” she whispered hoarsely into the awaiting silence, hearing her voice crack on the last word. She could see Stacy's grip on her ballpoint pen suddenly get increasingly tight, to the point where the whites of her knuckles became visible, and those usually twinkling eyes grew a dangerous dark shade as she looked up at her properly.

“ _What_ did you just say?” Stacy murmured out hollowly.

"He's _not_ dead. I know you _think_ he is, I know you ‘symbolically buried him’ and all that but I swear he's not. I _know_ he's not. I’ve seen him since that day, multiple t-times in fact,” Talia continued shakily, desperate to get the words out before the white noise came back. "He's not dead, and I think he knows where I am, b-b-because he f-f-follows me-”

“Oh _spare me._ You’re not well, Talia,” Stacy shook her head in disgust, her breathing becoming rigid as she shakily put her pen down. "You're _not_ okay in the head, at all. They should’ve given you a damn psych eval before even allowing you on these grounds as a doctor for god’s sake. In fact, I’m getting Cuddy to get one for you tomorrow. Why _lie_ about something like that you little-”

“I don’t _need_ a psych eval because I’m perfectly sane and _not_ lying!” Talia blurted out desperately. Her heart hadn’t beaten this hard in years. She just needed her to know the truth. “ _Please_ , you have to believe me. I’ve seen him since, and he’s not-"

Suddenly, Stacy stood up and slammed her hands onto her desk, creating a strong **bang,** which made Talia jump. She accidentally let out a fearful whimper and clamped her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

That feeling was all too familiar.

_"I buried my son,"_ Stacy hissed at her, now totally enraged. "I buried him after _you_ killed him _You_ are the reason for _five years_ worth of my misery. The police should’ve never-”

“ _No_ , you buried _nothing_ because there _was literally_ no body to bury! They never recovered one and you never even bothered to ask why. You assumed, and I insisted, but it was pointless!” Talia persisted stubbornly, her warm cheeks flushing redder by the second. “This is _just_ like when I told you what he did to me all over again. I swore blind and you defended him every, single, time. You enabled his abuse. I trusted you to help but you _allowed_ it to happen to me.” Stacy’s arms fell limply by her side and she shook her head at Talia in utter disgust.

“Get the hell out of my office.”

“He’s ali-”

“ _Get out_ , or I get you _fired._ " Talia bit back the tears of frustration and trauma, and nodded.

“Fine. Keep mourning the living. Let it be known that I tried to tell you," she muttered, before standing up and blustering out of the office just as quickly as she came in.

In fact, she stormed out of Stacy’s office to go straight into House's one instead, where the team were now in the middle of debating whether or not Andie was a victim of molestation, for whatever reason. She slammed herself into an empty chair and frowned to herself as she attempted to dissolve her mind from the recent spat with Stacy, so that she could refocus on the case instead. It was as if she had just come from underwater. All those muffled conversations surrounding her had suddenly started to come clear.

And boy oh boy - she soon wished that they never did.

“She told me she'd never even kissed a boy! I _doubt_ she’s been touched - her mum pretty much keeps her under lock and key!” Chase was insisting, his blonde hair a mess as if he had been running his fingers through it all day. Talia squinted her eyes at his uncomfortable disposition, confused as to why he’d be so upset over the suggestion of Andie being a victim.

“Ya, because there are _no_ possible child abusers in the average family home, Chase,” Cameron scoffed back irritably.

“So the girl told you a sob story - so what?! Did you read her _diary_ , too?" House guessed to Chase with unimpressed risen brows.

“N-no. She asked me to kiss her," Chase admitted bluntly. _That’s_ when Talia’s head jerked back in surprise.

“Wait, she did _what?_ ” she blinked.

“Chase, she's _sixteen!_ " Foreman reminded him loudly.

“Wait, age aside for a second - that’s still a pretty strange request, no? That’s not ringing…alarm bells for anyone else?” Talia blinked over at House, who just gave her a singular nod back. “Yeah she’s confident, but she can’t be _that_ confident to cop off with the first male she sees, surely. Dying or not!”

“My point exactly, Junior,” House hummed, settling himself down on his desk.

“Right. Well…sounds like a victim of molestation to me,” Talia sighed sadly before standing to her feet again. “I guess I’ll go and do the exam-”

“Wait, she wanted _one kiss_ before she dies. She’s a teenage girl, her hormones are raging - and if she's never kissed a boy what makes you think she’s _had sex?_ " Chase continued to argue with his hands outstretched in a rather dramatic way. Talia turned to him and cocked her head to the side in confusion. Didn’t he know how this worked?

“I mean…that’s how a lot of molestation victims _are_ , Chase. Hyper-sexualisation in young sexual abuse victims is incredibly common. That could easily be where her urge to kiss the first guy she came across came from,” Talia blinked back at him as if it were that obvious. “Sometimes they even seek sexual comfort in older men or women because it’s what they link to protec-”

“Yeah yeah it’s all very sad - how about…victims also learn how to _manipulate_ and _you_ , my friend, have been duped,” House interrupted with the smallest of chuckles, staring Chase straight in the eye. “You did, it didn't you? You kissed her.”

Then came that dreaded thick silence that practically suffocated them all one by one. In fact, Talia was sure the entire room were able to hear her heart thumping against her chest.

"…it wasn't a… _real_ kiss," Chase finally muttered thickly.

Talia felt sick to her stomach, as if the whole room was spinning around her and she was caught disturbingly in the middle of it. Cameron looked horrified, whilst Foreman just looked at Chase like he was a huge pile of dog crap. Even _House_ winced and shook his head - and that man hardly had _any_ morals. Immediately, Chase knew that what he had done was wrong - but he was so far gone now that all he could do was try and save face. "It was a _dying girl_ …one small kiss before she dies! One…one small-"

" _Yes_ , Chase - one small kiss for a dying _patient!_ Do you know what that could do to your career if it GETS OUT?!” Talia shouted, suddenly losing all composure in a snap.

“I mean to be fair - Wilson _has sex_ with _his_ dying patients,” House pointed out with a tiny voice.

_“HOUSE!”_ Cameron and Foreman barked him down before he could make it worse.

_“She is dying!"_ Chase still held up his hands in defence, although he now looked mightily uncomfortable too. “Talia I swear, I had no ill intentions behind it - it was just a peck and there was _nothing there!_ ” Cameron's mouth dropped open at his blatant ignorance and she slumped her head forward until it made a loud thud with the table.

“Wait, Chase you see that as _nothing?_ You've practically _cheated_ on Talia with an _extremely_ young teen,” House stirred up more trouble before leaning back again, his job well done. Both Foreman and Cameron could see what he was doing - and Chase was well ahead of him too.

“No no no, please don't get that notion into her head because then-"

_"_ Then _WHAT?"_ Talia's eyes were now filling with tears - mostly from embarrassment but also from the shock of it all. “ _Please_ finish that sentence, Chase? I _double dare_ you.”

But of course, Chase had nothing to say.

“And that's _exactly_ why he can't touch my markers. Go and find out if the girl’s had sex," House told Talia quietly.

“Will do, boss,” she muttered back. But Foreman could just see that her head wasn’t in the game, and he also knew that sending her to do the questioning by herself was somewhat risky.

"Talia-" he tried to intervene before it was too late - but she had already stood up, strode over to Chase and raised her hand to his cheek.

Chase winced, expecting the impact, but Talia couldn’t.

Her hand was frozen. Her heart was racing. She wouldn’t dare do what was done to her time, and time, and time again.

So she let out a small sob and stormed straight out of the office instead as everyone watched her go in shock, Chase included.

The room went uncomfortably silent again.

“ _Wow._ I would’ve preferred a slap, but either way - that was _so_ much better than General Hospital," House hummed to Foreman contentedly, leading Cameron to let out a grunt of disgust again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry if this was too heavy for you guys.
> 
> um, if you couldn't tell, this storyline is the one i had to alter. for those who don't know...in the show, that got RELEASED ON TV AROUND THE WORLD, this episode in particular is when chase felt compelled to kiss a cancer patient, yes. but...she was nine. nine years old.
> 
> yeah...we're not doing that over here. it was weird then and it's weird now. my original story should've never touched it tbh.
> 
> anyways now we're biting into the meat of ryan / talia / chase / stacy / house saga so...buckle up guys!


	21. fair enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: once again, this chapter includes the mention of molestation and abuse - so if that’s a sensitive subject for you, please feel free to skip it and message me for an overview so you don’t miss out on the storyline. enjoy my loves.

Talia was fuming, absolutely fuming. She couldn’t believe that Chase could be so _stupid_ \- this was the kind of thing that could ruin his career in the medical field for the rest of his life _._ Naturally, any sane head of department would’ve told Talia _not_ to go and speak to the girl that just kissed her boyfriend, but unfortunately _her_ boss was House, the one man who happened to embrace any drama that he could get.

But Talia knew that, and she didn’t feel like letting House get what he wanted just to fuel his love of negativity. So as she stormed through the hospital hallways on her way to Andie’s room, she tried her hardest to calm down, regulate her breathing and to try to stop her heart from violently slamming against her chest. It wasn’t the girl’s fault, because Chase should’ve known better - and she had to remind herself of that. As she entered the room where Andie was peacefully sitting up in her bed, she shoved Chase’s face straight out of her head. “Hello, Andie. I'm Dr Talia House,” Talia introduced herself with an extremely poised smile.

"I remember you. I met you earlier when I had my scan, right?” Andie acknowledged, giving her a ghost of a smile back. Talia nodded and quickly made her way over to her whilst snapping on her pair of white latex gloves. “Um…what…what are you checking for now?"

"We need to…we need to see if you’re showing any signs of sexual trauma," Talia explained as she gently manoeuvred the bed so that Andie was lying down flat on her back. The young girl’s face morphed from brief confusion to contorting in sudden disgust.

“Are…are you _kidding?_ ” Talia glanced up at her with her head cocked to the side.

"What?"

“I never even leave the house! Are you implying that…like…my _dad_ …” Andie trailed off with a shudder. Talia blinked at her rapidly and shook her head.

“Might not be molestation, then. Could just be sex - either way, I need to check your hymen,” she spoke calmly.

“Just sex?” Andie scoffed back. “Fine. But again, given the life I have - it’s _kinda_ unlikely.”

“I mean, unlikely things still happen…and it’s not a _totally_ bizarre suggestion, considering what happened earlier today,” she mentioned quietly before tenderly propping Andie’s legs up to begin the examination.

That’s when Andie blushed furiously and bit down on both her lips in shame.

“Oh, my _god._ I’m so sorry…I didn’t think that it would get him in trouble,” she admitted shamefully. “He didn’t wanna do it but I honestly didn’t see a problem so I-”

“Of course _you_ didn’t hun, but _Doctor Chase_ certainly should have," Talia muttered back under her breath. “Any repercussions he faces _isn’t_ your fault. He’s a grown man and has been a doctor for long enough, so he should’ve known better than to do something so _stupid_.”

Andie fell silent for a second.

"Do you, like…know him _outside_ of work?" she asked quietly, already sensing what the answer would be. Talia raised her dark perfectly shaped eyebrows and carried on with the examination.

“I mean yeah, you _could_ say that."

“Oh, my _god._ Is…is he your _boyfriend?_ " Andie whispered in horror. Talia only gave her a short hum in reply, trying not to focus on the questions and instead on the task at hand so that she could get the hell out of there. Andie let out a frustrated sigh at her silence. “Great. I always ruin things. _Always._ I am _so_ sorry…I didn't…I…"

"You're clear, Andie. I’m done here - no signs of abuse at all,” Talia interrupted her apology abruptly, not in the mood for the sad emotional talk right now. Andie shouldn’t have been apologising whatsoever, and it was annoying the hell out of Talia that she was showing more remorse than than the man who had just asked her to be his girlfriend the other week.

“Seriously doc, you have to forgive me," Andie begged, sitting up again as Talia took off her gloves and threw them into the bin nearby.

“It’s not _you_ I need to forgive, and you have nothing to apologise for. Do you hear me? _Nothing._ You didn’t know we were together - he did. You’re clear," Talia repeated, this time a little quieter than before. She turned on her heel and was about to leave the room - but Andie _just_ couldn’t let it go.

"Please Doctor Talia. _Don’t_ make him pay for my mistakes,” Andie sniffed in desperation. Talia turned back around, her deep grey eyes filling with tears.

“It’s not _your_ mistake, Andie! - it’s his. You’re clear," she finally whispered, before turning around and walking straight out before she broke down in front of her.

…

House had called his next meeting in the men’s locker room, much to everyone's confusion and borderline disgust. By the time Talia had made it in there from calming herself down post-examination, Foreman and Cameron were already propping themselves up against the cold steel lockers looking frustrated, whilst Chase was sitting on the bench with his head in his hands, not daring to look up when he heard the locker room door open and close. Why bother, anyway?

He knew _damn_ well who it was.

"Why are we in here?" Talia sighed tiredly, folding her arms and standing straight beside Foreman.

"Better acoustics. So how’s our little maneater doing?" House nudged his head up at his daughter in interest.

“Well for one, she certainly hasn’t had sex. Secondly, she’s apologetic, _very_ apologetic in fact," Talia nodded slowly. "But as far as I’m concerned it’s not _her_ that needs to be apologising."

"Yup," Cameron scoffed in agreement.

"You got _that_ right," Foreman hummed without even looking up.

" _Okay!_ I get it, I did a stupid thing - can we let it go?!” Chase snapped at them all.

“Oh _kindly_ shut the f*ck up again, Robert - I liked it far better when you were silent,” Talia beamed at her boyfriend with nothing but fakery coating her words. She was pissed, she was _clearly_ pissed, and everyone was staring at her in surprise, but she breezed on regardless. “Anyway House, what were you saying?"

“Well…uh…before you came in, I played her heartbeat. Long story short, we’re gonna be operating on her," House stated bluntly, replaying the tape of Andie’s heartbeat that he’d made the team listen to before Talia’s entrance.

“…I see. Why?” Talia asked in uncertainty, scratching her palm. “Tests said her heart was fine.”

"Tricuspid, mitral, again," House counted the beats ringing through the air.

"Wait! There, there's an extra flap!" Cameron suddenly exclaimed. “There _is_ something wrong with her heart!”

"Finally. I'm gonna get the surgeon to look at the mitral first," House sighed in relief, grabbing his cane to get ready to walk out of there again. "Chase, I want you there. I don't like reading surgeon reports, they bore the hell out of me.”

"I honestly don't think I should be spending any more time…" Chase trailed off uneasily. Talia rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw.

“The _alternative_ to that is you staying here - I think it’s safer that you _do_ come with me,” House waved him off before leaving the rest of the team there. As soon as he and Chase slipped out, Cameron decided to steer Talia straight out of the room to calm her down too, seeing the upset grow in her eyes.

“Talia, _breathe_ ,” she murmured into her ear as she shoved her through the hallways.

“Is he _insane?_ ” Talia hissed back, unable to hold it in any longer. “Allison, tell me I’m not blowing this out of proportion? Not to mention she’s sixteen! In like twenty other states this would be _illegal!_ ”

“I know, I know,” Cameron sighed. She stopped pushing Talia and stood in front of her instead. “He regrets it, I know he does. You know he’s a good man-”

“Look, I get that you two had a thing once and that you’re begging to defend him, so just tell me this now - does he do this kinda stupid sh*t without thinking often?” Talia asked her, cutting her off abruptly. “Is that a _thing_ for him? Cos if so, it’s the _first_ time I’ve seen it and it will be the last.”

“No! N-no…he just deals with dying patients differently to the rest of us,” Cameron explained with a reluctant sigh. “Foreman takes those long, dramatic walks, I cry for hours and overcompensate with kindness then stuff my face with burgers once I get home, and Chase-”

_“Kisses them?”_ Talia guessed with wide eyes of horror.

“No! No, he acts on impulse. Heat of the moment, anything to do to make the patient comfortable, he’ll do it without question despite consequences,” Cameron explained, taking Talia’s shoulders firmly in her hands. “I get that it was a dumb thing for him to do and I _don’t_ expect you to forgive him easily but…it was presented to him as a dying wish and that’s all he saw it as.”

Talia scoffed under her breath and simply shook her head, tearing her raging eyes from Cameron’s pleading ones and saying nothing else.

She _hated_ that her explanation somewhat made sense.

…

The hardest thing that Talia had to do since she’d ever joined the team was what House asked her to do later that same day. Things moved so quickly in that place that she barely had time to get over one piece of drama before she was settling her eyes on another.

“ _You want me to tell her she's gonna die?"_ Taila repeated House’s instruction in genuine distress, running her hands through her long deep blonde locks over and over and over again.

"Well think about it _this_ way – Foreman is too blunt and he has no sympathetic bone in his body…” House began to list off his fingers.

“No, House - that’s _you,_ ” Talia muttered back bitterly. House sighed and took a deep breath in through his nose.

“Fair point. Meanwhile, Cameron has _too many_ sympathetic bones, she'll probably end up crying before she even walks into the room-"

"Yeah and with good reason! She’s a deteriorating _kid_!” Talia interrupted again, placing her mug of tea back down on the table.

“Hey! That is _no_ way to talk about your colleague-”

"What about Wilson?! This is what he does for a living; giving people the bad news…so he's a pro at this, no?” Talia was now desperately clutching at straws. House simply gave a semi-sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he hobbled past her.

"Off you go, Junior. Tell your boyfriend’s biggest fan that she's dying - pretty fast at that,” he hummed. There was no getting around this, and Talia knew that. So she got up and hesitantly made her way towards Andie's ward, taking a deep breath before fully walking in.

And there she was, sat up in bed, reading something, and even though she looked was beginning to look very ill and drawn out, she still had a sparkle in her eye. Talia took a deep breath in, and began to speak.

"Andie?" she spoke quietly as she slid the door shut behind her. Andie glanced up from her book and smiled up at her nervously.

“Hey Doctor Talia," she murmured. Talia took another deep breath, which she couldn't keep doing because if she took another one she would most definitely pass out. For some reason, her stomach was doing flips and somersaults, and her knees had begun to tremble as she desperately attempted to stay calm. With all the months that she’d been working here - she hadn’t had to do this before.

“Okay, um…Andie…I…”

Suddenly, the ward doors slid open again and in rushed Andie's mother.

_Great_. That was _just_ what Talia needed.

"Your boss told me that there’s something I need to know about my daughter?" Andie's mother blurted out worriedly, grabbing another chair and pulling it up to the other side of the bed that Andie was resting on.

“My… _boss?_ ” Talia blinked. _That_ was a plot twist - did Cuddy take this head on? Or did Vogler say something in the hallway somewhere?

“Yes…uh…it was a ‘Doctor House'?" Andie’s mother frowned. That’s when Talia whipped her head in the direction of the window to see House leaning against the hallway wall opposite, watching her intently through the glass. Unbelievable amounts of anger immediately swirled in the pits of her stomach, but she smothered it up completely before it was noticeable.

“Of course he did. Well, Mrs Randolph, I’m sorry to inform you – but your daughter is…" Andie cocked her head to the side as she studied Talia's movements with her large eyes. Then, she slowly fluttered her eyes shut, as if she were preparing herself for the next few words to leave Talia's lips. "She's…dying."

With those words, the reactions were significantly different. Andie's mother burst into hot, heavy tears – but Andie was the person who had to comfort her. And Talia knew she couldn't just leave it there, either.

"There's nothing more we can do for her here. I am so, _so_ sorry," she mumbled out, before going pale and hastily making her way out of the room before she broke down in front of them both. House was the first person to meet her in the hallway, of course. “I don’t know how my mother ever liked you, let alone slept with you, House. You, are full on _evil_ ," Talia hissed, stamping her foot angrily. House nodded dismissively, not taking any of her words to heart again.

“Yeah yeah, we know - but did you see her _reaction_ though? Now, that was just _weird_ ," he hummed thoughtfully. Talia let out a shrill noise that was a perfect mix of both utter shock and blatant confusion.

"You sent me in there to _test out her reaction shots?_ _F*ck_ you, House - and I really mean that from the bottom of my heart,” she spat out in pure disgust before storming off.

…

Talia felt so out of it for the rest of the day. It was actually rather odd, because part of her felt as if Cameron’s bizarre justification of Chase’s actions made total sense, particularly after seeing the vulnerable girl and the state she was in one on one. All Andie wanted was a normal life, she wanted to experience things, and a kiss was one of them - but Talia still found it hard to stomach. Her morals were at war with her emotions and her head felt fit to burst.

However, Chase’s kiss was actually the least of her concerns at this point.

She was more worried about Andie and how House had, for some reason, put her in the communication lines with everything to do with the poor girl. She technically knew _why_ he’d done it - because other people’s emotions was always a point of interest for House - but she hated doing it regardless.

“T!” Chase called after Talia as she swiftly sped toward the ward Andie was in again to give her yet _another_ update that evening. She spun around at his voice - but she was crying. A complete mess, and it was extremely embarrassing but she _couldn’t_ stop. The pressure of her job and emotions of this case was entirely too much upon her heart. Chase didn't expect to see her tears when she turned to face him either, so he quickly grabbed her shoulders and gently steered her toward a corner so that she could calm down. "Oh, T," he sighed sadly. His deep blue eyes were full to the brim of sadness and regret. “Babe, I _really_ didn't know this would push you over the edge. I'm so, _so_ sorry-” Talia smiled slightly and shook her head.

"It's not that, Chase - although it certainly didn’t help matters,” she mumbled, wiping her tears away with her fingers. "It's Andie-"

"Why, what's happened?" Chase's face immediately fell into one of concern. “Did she say something?”

"No, nothing. She's just so brave and I hate having to go back and forth with bad news over and over again. House is insisting but…I can't imagine how it feels to..." Talia shook her head and bit down on her jaw, so that she couldn’t carry on even if she tried. Before he knew what he was doing, Chase quickly pulled her in for a hug and for once, she allowed him do it. His arms enveloped her and she leant on his shoulder as her tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

She felt safe.

“I just _wish_ this didn’t have to happen to her. I should’ve comforted her for longer when I broke that news…but I was so blunt-”

“No. You were still _angry_ , and that's my fault," he reminded her quietly as they let each other go. “I just wanted to keep her happy but I wasn’t even thinking of keeping you happy first. Again, I'm so sorry..."

"Don't worry about it. Cameron saved your skin with her explanation I gotta say,” Talia let go of him and gave him a proper tearful smile. "I am too. I really shouldn’t have popped off on you in that office. It was a really sh*tty thing for me to do. And borderline humiliating, I bet?” Chase let out a long sigh of relief and shrugged it off.

“Again, I did a stupid thing and you were angry-”

“No, it doesn’t matter. _Nobody_ should publicly humiliate anyone they respect like that,” Talia stood by her words firmly. “So, please tell me that you forgive me? O-only if you do, of course. I’m not forcing you…o-or, um, anything.” Chase frowned at her strange persistence but nodded anyway.

“Sure, of course I forgive you,” he murmured confusedly, noticing her face relax in relief again. “So…where are you off to now?"

"I have to ask Andie if House’s new procedure of stopping and starting her heart again is what she wants…all risks included. It’s such a dumb idea but it’s the last one House has and he wants _me_ to present it to her.” Chase grimaced and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Need some help?" he guessed.

_"Please,"_ Talia whispered thankfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they're the cutest things. i feel terrible every time i create drama between them because truthfully, we're only skimming the surface - OOPS!


	22. spilling secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry this is so long-

"Hey partner," Chase grinned as he strolled into Andie's room. Her weary eyes certainly lit up, there was no denying that. But once she saw Talia walk in too, she quickly made sure to drop that excitement.

"It's alright," Talia shot her a small smile of assurance. "He's a handsome fella, I get the lovestruck eyes too.” Chase smirked to himself before taking a seat beside Andie, whilst she smiled shyly.

“I hope I didn’t…get him into trouble," she grimaced, her eyes nervously darting from Talia to Chase and back again.

“Well _,_ my boss wasn’t _overly_ pleased," Chase hummed as he checked her vitals.

"Who, Dr House?" Andie gasped with panicked eyes.

“Yeah - this one, though,” Chase muttered discreetly, nudging his head in Talia's direction. Andie let out a little giggle and Talia couldn't help but reluctantly do the same.

“Anyway Andie, we wanted to ask if you’re perfectly okay with this stop and start operation, given all risks included….and there certainly are a few,” she began hesitantly.

“Yeah, my mom did a heap of research already - she’s worrying about it,” Andie sighed heavily. “Is she being dramatic again?”

"Nope," Chase frowned, leaning back in his chair. “Actually, I could think of ten very _excellent_ medical and moralistic reasons on why we shouldn’t be performed.”

“Mhm, I can think of eleven,” Talia murmured back as Chase shot her a playful roll of the eyes.

“So…all I have to do is say no?" Andie confirmed, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Correct – it's basically up to you, and given the overprotection you’ve had all this time, finally having your own choice is what you deserve,” Talia reminded her gently. Andie admired how much Talia had factored Andie’s own life issues into her advice. It showed that she wasn’t being that ‘generic doctor’.

"I mean…if I die, I leave my mom,” Andie admitted, covering her face with her hands.

“You don’t want her to be alone, I get it,” Talia hummed in agreement.

"But are you willing to live another year like _this?_ " Chase then inputted fairly. To his surprise, Andie nodded.

"For my mom? I'd do anything. I love her." Talia bit her bottom lip, and nodded over to Chase in confirmation.

"Well then it’s settled – we're gonna shut your body down and, with luck, restart it. House is _officially_ insane,” Chase finalised the situation quietly whilst standing to his feet again. “I’ll go let him know.”

"You're such a brave girl, Andie. It’s _admirable,_ ” Talia whispered, also standing up. Andie gave her a sweet smile of appreciation as they started to leave. But she wasn’t done. “Wait, Dr. Talia?” She poked her head round the door with a frown.

"You okay?”

"Are _you_ okay?" Andie rebutted outright. That left Talia _extremely_ confused as she slipped back into the room and slowly re-approached her bedside.

“I’m fine…why?”

“It's just that you look a little…well, _upset_ ," Andie whispered as discreetly as she could. “Is something bothering you?”

“No, I'm okay! Don't worry about me," Talia tried smiling it off. But that perfectly poised smile wasn't going to cut it this time - Andie was entirely too smart for that.

"No, I’m serious, Doctor. It looks like you’re holding something in. It’s in your eyes. And I know it’s not just my outstanding bravery making you all weepy,” Andie murmured quietly. “Are you still upset with Dr Chase for what he did?” Talia’s eyebrows shot up and she let out a little laugh - because if she didn’t, she’d start crying.

She was _so_ close to breaking and she blamed Stacy for it all.

“I’m…I’m kinda new here. I just wanted a fresh start, because I’ve been through hell. But people from my past keep interrupting my new beginning so it’s hard to let it go,” she attempted to explain as gingerly as possible. Any other day, she would’ve insisted on her ‘fine’ feelings and left the room. But now she was fit to burst, now she had to say something to someone - even if it was a teenage patient. “Chase…has nothing to do with it. I’ll be okay.”

“What, did you something bad or something?” Andie guessed casually.

“I…did something morally questionable. Depending on who you are, you might see it as completely messed up, or you could see it as completely justified - and no, I wasn’t a doctor,” Talia muttered. Then she heard what she was saying. “I-I’m not a bad person-”

“I _know_ you’re not, Dr Talia. Honestly, your past doesn’t even matter because the person you are now is pretty damn awesome,” Andie scoffed as if it were no big deal. Talia found herself nodding whilst biting back tears. She was never this emotional, _ever,_ but now she was crumbling and it was pissing her off. All those years of strength building had completely disappeared on her. “You should talk to someone about it. If you can't tell anyone, at least tell Dr Chase. He'll understand. You can tell he really likes you, maybe even loves-”

_“Loves?”_ Talia couldn’t help but give a choked out laugh. “Andie, we’ve only been official for about two weeks.”

“Sure, but you’ve known known him for longer?”

“Yeah, a few months,” Talia shrugged lightly. “Although it sure as hell _feels_ like years.”

“Well there you go. He’s definitely falling for you - the way he looks at you is like something out of the freakin’ _movies_ ,” Andie giggled. Talia bit her lip and shook her head in awe. This was the second young cancer patient to tell her how Chase felt before _Chase_ did and it was creeping her out,

“That’s all very sweet and storybook-like of you Andie, but…I can’t just go around telling him every and anything about me this soon. It’s really not that easy,” Talia sniffed shakily.

“Either way, you need to take control, because what happens if it accidentally slips out from someone that _isn’t_ you? Then you’re really screwed,” Andie giggled lightly. “If anything, do it for _me_. I might not live to see the outcome but I’ll…I’ll be smiling down on you both from Heaven if he takes it well.”

“And if it he _doesn’t_ take it well?” Talia muttered.

“Then I’ll haunt the guy for the rest of his days,” Andie shrugged. Talia smiled, even though her face was now soaked through with tears.

Andie was right. Chase _had_ to know the truth, because from the way Stacy was going, it could ‘slip out’ any day.

…

The next day couldn’t come soon enough. Cuddy was still rather strict about Talia sticking to her working hours, particularly as she was still in her probation period. So once Talia made it in at 8am the next morning, she rushed straight to the office. “How was Andie’s operation?” she panted loudly.

“House was right - _again_. Andie’s in recovery, it went great,” Cameron answered with a smile as she passed the relieved Talia a coffee. “Sugar?”

“Yes honey?” Talia smirked, making Cameron roll her eyes playfully and chuck her a few sachets. They had a sweet little friendship brewing, which shocked _everyone,_ because most could only take Cameron’s sweetness in small doses. More importantly, there was still that strange sense of awkwardness regarding Cameron and Chase’s history lingering amongst them, but nobody had mentioned it yet. As they began chatting amongst each other, Chase turned up and quickly kissed Talia’s cheek before slamming himself into the chair beside her with a tired grunt.

“Well whilst Andie’s recovering, we got _another_ kid to deal with," Foreman yawned, leaning back in his chair. “Surprise!”

“Noooo! No more _kids_ ," Talia groaned as she slumped her head onto the desk and Cameron knocked hers back.

“Yup! And this one claims he's… _cursed,_ " Foreman finished, with just a hint of laughter in his voice. Cameron’s head fell forward again and Talia nudged her head up with a frown.

“Cursed with _what?_ " was Cameron's first curious question.

“…well I’m pretty sure he's _not,_ " Foreman scoffed back with an obvious frown, “so does it matter?”

“Hey. Always the disbeliever Foreman," Talia tutted, studying the patient file that he’d slid over to her.

" _Someone's_ gotta be a sceptic when House isn’t around," Foreman grunted under his breath. “Speaking of - you seen him?”

“Nope,” Talia murmured without so much as glancing up. “We take separate cars to work now cos I’m a _big_ girl.” Foreman smirked and shook his head.

"I spoke to the kid before coming in. It just sounded like he was just doing immature teen boy kinda stuff,” Chase piped up carelessly. Talia and Cameron exchanged frowns, the two of them racing to reach a diagnosis before the guys could. They did that most mornings for fun - a bit of healthy competition kept them entertained.

“'Immature teen boy kinda stuff’? Chase, you should’ve asked if they were taking any new recruits!” came House’s sarky gasp from the doorway. The team craned their necks to see him hobbling in.

“ _Hilarious!_ Anyway, he said he fell on something in some abandoned attic, scraped his arm and then got a rash. He also said it smelt mouldy in there,” Chase continued with a shudder as Cameron pulled a disgusted face.

“Nice. Soooo are we just gonna sit here and stare at each other or is someone gonna actually grab a sample of the aforementioned mould?” House offered up to the rest of them brightly. Chase rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Fine. T?” he turned to her expectantly. Talia smiled at him and nodded, quickly standing up whilst Chase turned around to open the office door for her - but was suddenly met by someone standing in the doorway.

Chase froze with a look of shock in his eyes.

“Excuse me Dr Chase - you got a minute?" the man, who was considerably older, asked him tenderly. Chase’s skin went white as a sheet and everyone else watched on in silent interest.

"I…no, sorry - I gotta go," he finally spluttered quietly, breezing straight past him without another word. Talia gave the man a short apologetic smile before speedily following her boyfriend out, totally bemused by his attitude.

“Chase? Who was that?” she frowned as they made their way out of the hospital grounds and into the carpark. Chase’s face was stony and his eyes dark. He was even biting down on his jaw to prevent himself from saying anything. “Chase?" Talia pressed on gently once they made it to his car.

"T, you’re a smart girl - figure it out," he mumbled unenthusiastically, whilst swinging the car door open for her. Talia rolled her eyes as she shoved herself into the passenger seat and he slammed the door shut.

“Well…all I heard was that Australian sounding acc- OH! Is he your _dad?_ " she gasped, glancing over at him as he settled himself in the driver’s seat. Chase just leaned back against the headrest with his eyes squeezed shut.

“Ding ding ding - we have a winner.”

“Woaaah! _Dr Rowan Chase!_ He’s a hotshot - why have I never made the connection? I even studied his books in London,” Talia grinned. But her excitement quickly died again once she saw how serious Chase looked. " _Okaaaaay_ so I guess that him being here is… _not_ …a good thing?"

"Not at all," Chase cracked one eye open with a sigh. "Ever."

Talia frowned. Strange.

"Why not?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, we have time.”

“We have time for yours, too. But we agreed that it wasn’t necessary to explain, didn’t we?” Chase suddenly snapped out of nowhere, turning his head to look at her properly. It was obvious that Talia wasn't expecting it, and it didn’t take long for Chase to feel the guilt of her shock. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to…bark.”

“No, it’s fine. You’re right, you don’t owe me your life story,” Talia murmured apologetically as she leaned against the cool car window. As her mind drifted, all she could think about was Andie’s words. Whilst she considered them, Chase clenched his jaw for a full minute and a half and kept driving - before finally speaking, completely unprovoked.

“He…he left me and my mum,” he spoke bitterly, keeping his eyes on the road. Talia shook herself out of her daze and sat up straight again. “Mum was an addict but Dad just packed himself up and disappeared, then got remarried to some young brunette called Juliette. Mum missed him - he couldn’t _less_. Whilst he was living large, I was the one who had to walk into my house after school to see my mother’s corpse slumped over the dining room table after she accidentally overdosed. I’ve never forgiven him.” It didn’t take long for Talia’s heartstrings to pull, now understanding Chase’s resentment.

“Oh babe,” she sighed sadly, reaching for the hand that wasn’t driving and holding it in hers. She pressed a soft kiss to the back of it and he glanced over at her with a very brief thankful smile. “I’m _so_ sorry - that’s awful…”

“It’s fine. She’s not suffering anymore,” Chase gave a one shouldered shrug. “But you can see why I don’t appreciate his random fatherly visits. Cos the time for him to actually do that has _long_ gone.”

“I get it,” Talia murmured, kissing the back of his hand again. “You don’t have to get over this…just keep it down for today and it’ll all be fine-”

“Talia, I _can’t_ ,” Chase grumbled moodily.

“Okay, fine - then take it hour by hour and see how that goes? Just don’t let it get in the way of the case,” Talia compromised fairly, tucking a strand of hair behind her hair with the hand that wasn’t gripping onto his.

“I…fine,” Chase reluctantly muttered back. He knew she was just trying to help.

…

When Talia and Chase walked back into House’s office after collecting and testing mould samples, neither one of them were expecting Dr Chase Senior to be sitting amongst the team. The shock of him being there caused Chase to freeze on entry, which then caused Talia to bump into him. “ _Ow_ Chase! What's the- oh…good lord,” she trailed off awkwardly after seeing who was there.

“I'm not _even_ gonna ask," Chase grumbled, walking straight past his father. “Anyway! Mould samples came up clean. It’s something else that’s making this kid sick - I think we should start him on another antibiotic instead-”

“What? This would be his third one - you _really_ think he's allergic to _two_ antibiotics? What would be the odds of that?” Foreman scoffed as Cameron frowned beside him.

“It is unlikely, Chase. I don’t think we should be looking at the antibiotics,” she agreed.

“Well _I_ want to know what Dr Chase thinks," House piped up with a hand risen in the air. Chase opened his mouth to answer again - until House corrected himself. “The more _experienced_ one, I mean.”

The room fell silent as Chase clamped his mouth shut and said no more. Talia scratched her neck anxiously and held her breath. Rowan, Chase’s father, swallowed slightly before beginning.

“From what I’ve gathered…I find it strange that the boy gets anthrax, but also happens to be allergic to two antibiotics. I think it’s sarcoidosis. Something’s gone wrong - and I don’t mean to offend, but is it possible someone slipped up?" Chase let out a short snort of disbelief.

“As much as you’d love that - _no_ , the kid’s rash is classic anthrax," he waved his father off bluntly.

“Well - except the colour," Talia pointed out a little timidly, but still causing all eyes to fall on her. “It…uh…it hasn’t turned black yet. Classic anthrax goes black - I’m just saying!”

“She’s right," Rowan added, leading Foreman and Cameron to shoot each other awkward looks across the table.

"Now now, it isn't a competition. But if it _wassss_ …hands up who thinks Junior Blondie wins?" House hovered his hand over Chase's head. No one put up their hand - so Talia quickly shoved hers into the air. “Sorry! Girlfriend votes don't count, so it's not necrosis. Which means….”

“…it’s sarcoidosis," Rowan nodded, leaning back in his chair. Then he turned to his son. “You two are…together?” he asked slowly. His voice was calm but…slightly saddened. Talia hurriedly smacked a smile on her face as she felt Chase reach for her hand hold it in his own, rubbing the back of it with his thumbs.

“We are, yeah. This is my girlfriend - but it’s not like you would know that if you didn’t happen to have a conference in town, no?” Chase blinked bluntly, cocking his head to the side. Cameron’s jaw dropped whilst Foreman sunk deeper into his seat.

“Yikes,” House tutted, clearly enjoying this. Talia grimaced but stood up and held her hand out to Rowan anyway.

“Talia House - a pleasure to meet you, sir," she smiled sweetly as she shook his hand, beaming away with those rosy cheeks.

“Oh! The daughter of the man himself? Well, the pleasure is all mine, Talia,” Rowan gave her a small smile as he firmly shook her hand back.

"I bet it is," Chase muttered under his breath. Suddenly, the atmosphere got a little too heavy for him - so he stood up. “Excuse me,” he murmured before silently sweeping out of the room.

“Um…excuse me, too," Talia whispered politely before shooting House and the team a confused look and scurrying out as well. She spotted her boyfriend’s blonde tufts through the small laundry room window a few feet away. So, she cracked the door open and slipped through, shutting it behind her and leaning up against it as they came face to face with each other. “Chase, I _said_ take it hour by hour and you’ve _barely_ made 10 minutes?”

"Why is he _here?_ " was Chase’s first bitter question. Talia shrugged her slender shoulders.

“Maybe…maybe he misses you?” she tried gently, folding her arms across her chest. Chase sniffed and shook his head – and _that_ was when Talia noticed that he was so frustrated that he was now close to tears. "Oh babe, I'm _sorry._ I know you'll never get over what he's done…but you maybe you should just _try_ and forgive him-"

"Are you _insane?_ " Chase hissed, now letting one tear dribble down his cheek. His face was turning red and his voice was beginning to crack and break in places that it never usually did. "I'm not letting him get away with murder. Someone is _dead_ because of him, that's not okay! More to the point, I _shouldn’t_ have to _feel_ as if it is okay just cos I’m meant to love him!"

That's what hit it home for Talia.

“Wait…so…so you're saying that you’ll…never forgive someone like that?" Talia clarified nervously as she began to scratch her arm. Her voice was barely above a whisper and she felt her hands beginning to tremble. Chase was so deeply engrained in the heat of the moment, that he was about to hastily blurt out his answer of 'never' – but something about the look on her face told him not to.

“T…? Are…are you okay?”

"Chase you have to _promise_ me that you forgive people like your father," Talia begged. It’s like a switch had gone off somewhere and now her reaction was completely bizarre. There were now tears streaming down her face, and she had gone from being fine to not so quickly that it genuinely freaked Chase out. He placed his hands on either side of her face to keep her focussed on him and nodded, looking deep into her beautiful blueish grey eyes.

But this time, a nod wasn’t enough.

"No Chase _say it out loud_ , s-s-say you forgive me, please, say it-”

Say he forgives _her?_

"I forgive you," Chase replied calmly, still holding her head steady and trying to keep his voice just as regular. No sudden inflections and no quick reactions. “Babe, I’ll _always_ forgive you. Now tell me, how are you in _any way_ like my father?" Talia took the deepest breath she could muster.

This was it. This was her final curtain call.

"Because someone m-might be dead because of me, too," she sobbed, getting Chase's hands soaking wet with her warm running tears.

"Who?" Chase blinked anxiously. Talia didn't answer. She couldn’t even get the words out properly. "T, _who is dead_ because of you? Is it…is it that Ryan guy?” At his name, she nodded and dropped her head shamefully, leading Chase to sigh and wipe her tears away for her. "Oh sweetheart…I doubt you did _anything_ that contributed to-"

"Chase, if he’s genuinely still missing, then I did _everything_ to contribute to it. Everything," Talia insisted, now feeling slightly faint as the room started to spin around her. Chase felt sick to his stomach but made sure to remain calm.

_Just about._

“W-what do you mean, Talia?”

“I can’t-”

“Talia, _what do you mean?_ ”

"I...I mean…I killed him, Chase. I-I-I _killed_ Ryan…well, I sure as hell f*cking tried.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we have two chapters left until i've fully caught up with 16 year old me and the original story! then it's all fresh unseen content. scared? mildly concerned? somewhat curious? you should be!


	23. double reconciliation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: this chapter includes brief mention of abuse!

Chase was frozen. He could barely even breathe. His mind was telling him a million things a second - and amongst those million things were the words _'run as fast as you can, she's insane'._ Yet despite the feeling of panic building within him, he found that his hands were still stuck on either side of Talia’s sodden cheeks. Her eyes were continuously streaming with sorry, hot, heavy tears, and each passing second of silence worried her even more. “Ch-Chase, p-p-please _say_ something," she choked out through her sobs.

It was only then that Chase realised that he hadn't actually replied yet.

"I- I mean…did you…I'm sorry, _what did you say_?" he finally spluttered, his voice cracking harder with every word that left his lips. But Talia gulped and shook her head stubbornly, determined not to repeat it. “ _No_ T, I need you to say it again. Tell me again, w-what you just said. Those _exact_ words. _Please._ "

"I tried…I tried to kill him," Talia whispered shakily. “I tried to kill Ryan Warner." Chase did an immediate double take and clamped his hands on either side of his head, hard. The news was like a solid punch to the face.

" _WARNER_?" he clarified with a shout, that loveable Australian accent now more prominent than it had _ever_ been before. Talia nodded and let out another distressed sob, vividly beginning to remember Ryan’s bloodied face. " _Stacy's_ son? As in Stacy the _lawyer’s_ son? Oh, my _god? How_ did you… _h-how…_ "

"I smashed his face in," Talia continued to confess, now unable to stop despite the distress it was causing her. Chase's heart plunged even further into his stomach. "I b-beat him with w-w-whatever item I could reach for until he was n-nothing more than a bloody mess on the floor…and…I _l-l-left_ him there to die."

She could literally see the horror grow in Chase’s eyes.

"You- oh _god_ ," he mumbled thickly. Talia shook her head rapidly, already knowing what was coming next. She managed to place her hands over his a split second before he forced his palms away.

" _Please_ Chase, don't leave me. You don’t understand _why_ I-I-I had to do it,” she pleaded with him quietly. Chase finally yanked his hands out of her grip and backed away from her in disgust, as his face grew paler and paler. "No baby please, _don't,_ you _said_ you would always forgive me, y-y-you-”

"I can't…I can’t be here with you right now," Chase choked out. “I'm sorry-" Then he dashed out the laundry room as fast as he could before he really freaked out.

Talia let out a heart-wrenching cry and she slid onto floor.

Her vision was starting to cloud over again and her breathing started to become uneven, but this time she was ready for it. She grabbed the sleeve of her top, stretched it out over her wrist and shoved it straight into her mouth to stifle the cries of the one person she had grown to adore, being _ripped_ away from her because of something she had stupidly done in self defence.

…

"House, we need to talk, _right now!_ ” Chase announced briskly as he burst into House’s office. Everyone turned their heads to stare at him as if he’d lost it - his own father included. House cocked his head to the side and blinked at him in amusement as usual.

“Uh…Chase…we were _kinda_ in the middle of someth-" Cameron began obviously.

“Shut up, Allison! I mean it, House - _now!_ ” Chase barked so viciously that everyone did another double take. _That's_ how House knew it was serious. Well that - _and_ the fact that Chase was shaking, pale and looked like he was either about to vomit or pass out.

Or both.

"Everybody out. Get the kid a lumbar puncture,” House ordered them calmly. The group frowned deeper but got up and left obediently. They could clearly see that this wasn't a game to House and was therefore quite serious. Once the door had swung shut, Chase let out the longest groan of disbelief and smothered his face with his hands. House squinted at him. “What’s happened?”

_"What's happened?"_ Chase repeated in disgust, suddenly beginning to pace the room. " _What's happened_? It’s T-T-Talia, she kill-" He felt himself gag slightly and took a moment to compose himself. He was still trembling like crazy. "She _tried_ to kill someone. That Ryan guy, the one you wanted me to find out about? Yeah - she tried to kill him. There’s your story. _Kill_ him, House - as in stone cold attempted murder…and that’s if he’s not dead already! I don’t even think she _knows_ if he is or not!”

That was the first time that Chase had actually witnessed House being caught off guard, which _instantly_ made everything worse. If _he_ seemed fazed, it really must’ve been bad.

"She tried to kill him? Stacy's kid? Like she _actually_ admitted it?" House clarified slowly. Chase ran his hands through his hair and let out another frustrated groan as the news got heavier on his heart.

“House, this explains _everything._ I-I understand, no wonder she’s been so hesitant to…” he trailed off with a shudder.

"She _told_ you this?" House suddenly asked.

"Yeah, just now," Chase murmured back.

"Where were you guys?"

"In the laundry room. She just kinda…broke down and told me -look, what are we gonna _do?_ What, do we tell the _police?_ Do we tell _Cuddy?_ Is there an ongoing investigation? How did she bypass the DBS check? What about Stacy? Is that why they’re so weird with each other? Cos she must know right? _Does_ she know? Do we-"

"Wait, wait, _waaait -_ so she told you the _biggest_ secret of her life and you _left_ her?" House suddenly spluttered in genuine surprise. “You actually left her in that laundry room? By herself?"

"House did you not listen to a _word_ I just said?! She just confessed to _attempted_ _murder!_ W-w-what was I meant to do, sit there and have a chat about it over hot chocolate?" Chase snapped back angrily.

But House wasn't listening.

He quickly grabbed his cane and began to hobble out of the office as speedily as he possibly could. “House, _WHERE ARE YOU GOING?_ " Chase shouted. House spun back around to face him again.

"You have no _idea_ what she went through with that guy, _regardless_ of what she did. Does Talia look like the _killing type_ to you? More to the point you know this PTSD is a seizure trigger so you've _basically_ left her there to _choke on her own tongue._ This little revelation that’s making you piss _your_ pants could kill your girlfriend, _Doctor,_ ” he hissed before going off again. Truthfully, Chase was still at war with himself - but he ended up running after House anyway, the ‘good doctor’ in him clearly taking over.

And of course, once he and House got to the laundry room, Talia was in there violently convulsing on the floor again. "Now I hate to say I told you so…" House hissed to Chase whilst bending down to deal with her. But Chase stayed hovering in the doorway, still internally confused. House glanced up at him and rolled his eyes. "Look, we'll figure _that_ out later, but for the _LOVE_ of _GOD_ , can you be a doctor, do your _job_ and _give me a hand?_ "

…

"She's awake," Cameron informed Chase a good hour or so later. Instead of running in like he did that time before, Chase simply nodded and kept his eyes focussed on the floor. They were stood outside of her hospital room, leaning against the wall together. “Um…don’t you…don’t you wanna go in there and see her?" Cameron prompted him slowly, confused at both his lack of enthusiasm and relief. Again, much to her surprise, Chase let out a dry laugh and shook his head. “Alright _now_ you’re just being an ass,” Cameron muttered. “I know your dad’s here but-”

“Drop it, Allison,” Chase mumbled out bitterly without looking up. Cameron rolled her eyes and stood in front of him instead with her arms abrasively crossed over her chest.

“Look, whatever's happened - that woman adores the _hell_ out of you, and you’d be a damn fool to let her go,” she hissed to him. Chase’s eyes immediately shot up at her and his lips suddenly parted in surprise.

“What do you mean, _‘whatever's happened’_?”

"I know things between you guys _aren’t_ okay right now, Chase. It's pretty damn obvious! Your attitude is off and Talia’s been on edge since Stacy Warner came down here for _whatever_ reason," Cameron muttered. She lowered her eyes to the floor and sighed, sensing that Chase still wasn’t budging. "I know I’m a ‘hopeless romantic’ but…I think you two are falling for each other and pretty damn fast, especially by your standards, so it probably scares you. No, _don’t_ look at me like that - it’s true! So just…at least _try_ and stick it out? She’d do anything for you and so you should be willing to do the same for her. Happiness is what you both deserve. She is a good person, Chase - and so are you. Don’t stuff this one up like you did with us, cos it’s a miracle you landed Talia in the first damn place.”

Chase did nothing but clench his jaw. He knew he’d just raise suspicion if he didn't act normally and he didn’t want people prying into what set Talia off again - so he silently slipped into her ward, and slid the door shut behind him, whilst Cameron released a sigh of relief.

Once Talia saw him walk in, she clamped her hands over her mouth and her eyes immediately welled up with tears. She could sense a break-up coming and truthfully, she didn’t blame Chase one bit.

“Robert, I _swear_ I didn't mean to go ape on Ryan like that. I didn't know w-what the hell I was doing - he abused me so _badly_ for so _long_ and I just sat there and f*cking took it for _years_ , so when I finally got my revenge I-I kinda lost control and I shouldn’t have left him there to d-d-die, _I know,_ " Talia explained in a rush, trying to sound firm despite her voice shaking like a leaf. Chase slowly approached the bed, pulled up a chair and sat himself down next to her.

“Talia, listen-"

"I swear to _god_ I will reopen the case, I'll tell everything to everyone but I just don't want you to think terribly of me," she continued to strain regardless. “I-” She only stopped talking once she felt Chase's steady hands on top of her shaking ones. She stared up at him in confusion. Her eyes were misty and her cheeks were sodden but she could see him clearly enough. Chase slowly brought her hands to his lips and gently pressed them against her knuckles, causing her to let out a nervous breath of anticipation.

“I’m sorry for freaking out on you like that. I just wasn’t expecting it,” he whispered, rubbing his thumbs against the backs of her trembling hands. “I’m…I’m here for you, bub. It's not gonna be easy, and I _really_ think you should take the reins on this before it can get any worse - but either way, I promise you’ll get through this." Talia was so stunned that she couldn't speak, but Chase knew what she was trying to say. “Plus, the guy’s a dick and he hurt you. I’m not about to defend a guy like that, and f*ck anyone who does - his mother or not.”

…

Talia was discharged that same evening after a number of tests. She’d now been prescribed medication to moderate her anxiety which would therefore regulate the seizures, and had been firmly instructed by Dr Cuddy that unless she took it on a regular basis, alongside therapist appointments with regular _checks_ , she wasn’t to come back to work because she was now a hazard to her own and everyone else’s safety. So, of course Talia had to oblige. It was that or the job.

She had no choice.

Chase had also insisted that she’d come home with him that evening, because Cuddy had given her a few days off to recuperate. As Talia tied dark blonde locks into a quick messy mid ponytail and Chase helped get her belongings ready to leave the hospital, she turned to him with a tired frown. “Is your dad leaving today?” she clarified whilst walking over to him.

“Hopefully,” Chase murmured back carelessly, sliding the ward door open for them both. “Why? You want the guy’s autograph?”

_“No,”_ Talia rolled her eyes as she slid the ward doors shut again. “I just think…I think you should talk to him.”

“About _what?_ ” Chase scoffed under his breath, looking everywhere but at her.

“Robert, _please_ don’t make me f*cking fight you on this one. I’m _far_ too tired for that,” Talia muttered, placing her soft hands on either side of his face to keep his eyes on her. “You _know_ that this man flew all the way from Australia for a damn reason-”

“Yeah cos there was a _conference_ in town, Talia. We’ve been through this already,” Chase drawled in boredom. “I-”

“Chase, Cameron already told me that he apologised to you whilst I was sleeping earlier. That might not make a difference to you _now_ but it will eventually,” Talia spoke slowly, still groggy from all the medication she’d been loaded up with. “Please do it? For me?”

“I… _how?_ What do you want me to do?” Chase groaned quietly, as he brushed her hair away from her red rimmed eyes.

“Invite him out for a drink or something before he flies home! I’ll even come along for support if it makes it easier,” Talia assured him tiredly. “ _Please?_ You already don’t have your mum. You could at _least_ have your dad. I don’t want you to be this detached from both your parents cos…take it from me…it _sucks_.” She softly pressed her lips against his before he could respond and ran her hands sweetly through his hair, making him let out groan when they broke apart. He leant his head forward so that it was resting on her shoulder.

She had a point - and he knew it.

…

Talia sat in the passenger seat of Chase’s expensive car that evening, lolling her head against the cool glass window as she watched him hesitantly approach his father outside of his hotel. She was utterly exhausted to say the least, and the medication was starting to take a drowsy toll on her - but did promise that she’d go for drinks and she _never_ broke her promises.

Although admittedly, she was beginning to wish that she’d never offered, because now she just wanted sleep.

Regardless, she eagerly watched the conversation take place between the two Chases through the windscreen, wondering what they were saying to each other and anxious to see if an argument would take place - until she saw Chase suddenly give his father a hug, rubbing his broad back and everything. The tears welled up again before she knew it. “Awww…look at Chase squared,” she cooed sweetly, just as she caught Rowan’s eye and gave him the tiniest of waves through the glass. Rowan smiled and gave her a little thankful wave back, fully aware that this entire meet up was probably her own idea.

All of a few quick moments later, Chase was stood there in the cold as he watched his father climb into the taxi. Talia, despite her tiredness, heaved her way out of his car and walked out into the bitter night to join him for comfort. She wrapped her arms around him and leant her head comfortably against his chest whilst releasing her own little sad sniffles. Chase immediately wrapped an arm around her too, as his own tearful eyes saw his dad’s taxi drive off into the night. “I guess he couldn’t stay for drinks, huh?” Talia guessed with a saddened sigh, suddenly breaking the silence.

“Nope. Funnily enough, he ‘had to get back’,” Chase mumbled, and Talia could tell that he was biting back his emotions. Whether it was disappointment or resentment though, she couldn’t tell. “He said next time, though.” Talia cupped Chase’s jaw and caressed his cheeks lightly with her thumbs.

“Hey. I’m proud of you,” she murmured honestly. He looked down at her and nibbled on his bottom lip in uncertainty. “No, I mean it. You took the first step of making things right with someone that you thought you’d never forgive. _You_ made that step. That’s _amazing_.”

“Thanks, T - but you did an amazing thing too, today. I know it wasn’t easy telling me the truth - so I’m insanely proud of you too,” Chase pointed out with a sad little smile. “Plus, I wouldn’t have made this step if you never pushed me in the first place.”

“Well _that’s_ true. See? My persistence and stubbornness can be a _tad_ annoying, but I know what I’m doing,” Talia giggled before pressing a sweet kiss to his unsuspecting plump lips. Chase chuckled as he kissed her back.

“Clearly. _Perfect_ girlfriend material, right?” he smirked once they broke apart.

“Girlfriend? Now that you’ve met both my crazy ass parents and I’ve met your father, who, by the way, I think _loves_ me - I’m expecting you to _marry_ me _,_ ” Talia playfully scoffed as her boyfriend rolled his eyes back at her. “Now - can we please go back to yours so that I can sleep? I’m genuinely shattered and I wanna spend my first day off in a warm house _without_ a piano, electric guitar or violin in the background.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Chase nodded, taking her hands away from his face and gently pulling her towards his car instead. “You were _never_ gonna make a full night of drinks with me and my dad, by the way.”

“I know,” Talia admitted with a shy smile. “Truthfully, I was planning to sneak back into the car to sleep ten minutes into the night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was admittedly soooo cute to write! house & talia's relationship is somewhat strengthening and it's all sweet and stuff...until it's not...for like...the rest of the book LMAO ANYWAY SEE YA NEXT WEEK!


	24. speeches and sighs

The entirety of Princeton Plainsboro Hospital and its staff were now under immense pressure from one man, and one man only. Edward Vogler had managed to create the most tyrannic upper hand on everyone within his reach, and it was clear that he was borderline unstoppable. Yes, he had donated $200 million to the hospital, and yes it was generous - but now he felt as if he was allowed to dictate every and anything with no exceptions. Good doctors were getting fired, the rules on Patient Care had changed, and even the canteen food had changed for the worse.

Talia did well to avoid the man at the best of times, but now he was really cracking down on all of House’s team in particular, including her - and it was driving her slightly mad. It was obvious he had an issue with House. More importantly, it was borderline impossible for her to avoid both him _and_ Stacy at the same time, and now all this running was beginning to get on her nerves. Especially as she had only got as far as telling Chase the truth. Stacy was staying quiet for now - but if she ever decided to let it ‘slip’ to Vogler, never mind Cuddy, her career would be dead.

“Okay, Gabriela, if you could just hold still for me? I’ll try and make this as swift as possible…” Talia gently assured her patient as she prepared her back for a lumbar puncture and the supporting nurse held her hips still.

“Is…is this gonna hurt?” Gabriela winced into the cotton of the pillow.

“Um…well, you’ll certainly feel a slight-” Talia began - but was rudely interrupted by someone barging straight into the room without so much as a knock. Her back was to the door so she couldn’t see who it was, but from the slight eye roll of the assisting nurse opposite her, she swiftly figured it out.

“Doctor Talia?” came Vogler’s deep voice from the doorway. Thankfully, Talia was was able to discreetly roll her eyes too, before putting on a bright voice and answering,

“Mr Vogler, sir! _Always_ a pleasure,” she greeted him through gritted teeth without turning around. “Alright…deep breaths for me please, Gab-”

“I’m sorry but _I_ was under the impression that you were meant to be shadowing another doctor for your first few months her?” Volger pointed out smoothly, now fully striding in to stand opposite her. Talia bit down on her jaw and released a calming breath through her nose.

“Wait who’s that talking?” Gabriela piped nervously from the bed, now beginning to sweat from the anticipation. “Is that…is that the Dr House guy?”

“No, it’s not,” Talia responded sweetly, “now, if you could just-”

“I have _also_ noticed that Dr Chase, the doctor you’re meant to be shadowing, is in fact _not_ here,” Volger soldiered on, leading Talia to immediately put the lumbar needle back down again. This time she looked up to face him properly. “Do you mind telling me where he is, if not with you?”

“ _Dr Chase_ is on a different subsection of the same case, and has been placed on that subsection by Dr House himself,” she explained slowly and deliberately, keeping the professionalism in her voice although her tone was slightly pitchy. “Dr _Cuddy_ has also previously stated that I’m of adequate skillset _and_ knowledge level to perform some of these practices on my own, as long as I’m with a nurse for backup. Here’s my nurse. She is backing me up. It’s been four months, almost five-”

“Yes well you still have two months of probation left as far as I’m concerned. You may be the one of the youngest to graduate in England but here in _America_ , we have regulations and I intend for this hospital to _abide_ by them,” Vogler muttered out coolly. Talia shook her head and ran her tongue over her teeth. The patronisation in his voice was borderline painful.

“Then, with _respect_ \- I suggest you bring that up with my superior,” she suggested, staring directly back at him. The two of them locked eye contact for a few tense seconds before Vogler asked to move the conversation into the hallway instead, which Talia reluctantly agreed to.

Once they were outside though, she finally let it rip.

“You’re jumping on my every move because you have a _serious_ problem with my father, aren’t you?”

“Your father certainly does concern me, yes,” Vogler admitted with a short grimace. “The case of the young cancer patient whose heart was started and stopped with no prior authorisation was worrying enough-”

“Andie? The one who recovered and went back home with an extra two years of her life added on? Gosh, House is _terrible,_ ” Talia tutted under her breath. Her sarcasm didn’t seem to faze Vogler, though.

“I was then recently informed of him lying to the medical board regarding a patient’s right to get a transplant. He decided to hide the knowledge of her being on anti-depressants so that she could get a new organ - which is ethically abhorrent. I imagine you are aware?” Suddenly, Talia’s clenched jaw automatically relaxed and her pink lips parted open in surprise ever so slightly. She certainly wasn’t expecting _that_ to come out of his mouth. The situation he was talking about had happened a few days ago - and House _had_ lied to the board, because the patient being on anti-depressants would’ve prevented her from getting a new kidney and she would’ve died. Only Talia, Chase, Cameron and Foreman knew about the lie, though.

So one of them had snitched to _Vogler_ , out of everyone? So one of them wasn’t trustworthy.

_“Interesting,”_ was all she hummed under her breath.

“Indeed. House being your father should not deter you from your moral duty as an ethical _doctor_ ,” Vogler finished with ease, causing Talia’s eyes to fly back over to him again. “Should I find out that you are, for any reason, withholding _any_ information on his malpractices-”

“You’ll fire me - understood!” Talia muttered out the formalities. “Now you’re now preventing _me_ from saving a patient’s life by requesting me out here - which, by the way, is a terrible thing for an _ethical_ doctor to do!” And with that, she turned on her heel and stormed back into Gabriela’s room to finally get the lumbar puncture done in peace.

…

Talia was praying that House was in when she got to their apartment after her shift. She had to warn him of Vogler’s vendetta against him. _“House?!”_ she yelled out in a panic as she slammed the front door behind her.

“I’m not in right now!” came House’s casual call from within the bathroom. Talia sighed in relief. “Please leave a message, or better yet - just leave!”

“Ha _ha_ ,” Talia muttered, chucking her keys down inside the fruit bowl before kicking off her shoes. “Wait, when did _you_ get home?”

“Waaay before you - _and_ I get paid more!” House sassed back as he flushed the toilet. Talia rolled her eyes and pulled off her jacket before flopping onto the sofa and chucking her head back with a grunt. House walked out of the bathroom and frowned. “Woah. What’s up with you? You seem even more dead on the inside than usual.”

“Dead on the inside? Wrong House, mate,” Talia scoffed back.

“Meh, still - what’s going on?”

“That _stupid_ bastard Vogler gave me an earful today,” Talia grumbled whilst slamming her hands over her face. House nodded slowly.

“Huh.”

“No, I mean like he literally _interrupted_ Gabriela’s lumbar puncture just to chastise me for not having Chase there, and _then_ he told me that someone snitched with the whole anti-depressants situation. House, he’s trying to get you the _hell_ out of here.”

“Oh. So it _wasn’t_ you?” House murmured, causing Talia to throw her head forward and drop her hands from her face with a frown.

“Wait - you _knew?_ ” she spluttered.

“Yup. And I’ve been trying to figure out who the leak is by the power of deduction,” House announced as he limped over to his trusty Vicodin stash to pop one into his mouth. “I’ve officially deducted that it wasn’t you - so congrats!”

“Wait, why was I even in the running? I’m your _kid_ ,” Talia reminded him with an unimpressed frown, drawing her knees to her chest.

“Everyone disappoints, Junior,” House muttered blankly. Talia took a deep breath in through her nose and quickly ran her hands through her hair.

“True. But…so…who else have you decided that it isn’t?” she asked.

“Aside from you - no one. But the big man wants me to give one of you the chop to get back at me for doing it,” House informed her as he slammed himself down on the sofa beside her. Talia’s heart dropped into the pits of her stomach and she gulped. “Don’t worry Junior, you’re safe. You’re _all_ safe, actually - I agreed to take some stupid deal where I gotta make a speech at his event, which will just me publicly kissing his ass,” House drawled lazily. But Talia felt more uncomfortable than relieved.

“ _Why_ am I safe?” she mumbled awkwardly, scratching her arm as she turned to look at him. “I think I’ve had more _seizures_ in that place than actual solved cases.”

“Ya. _That’s_ why Cuddy trusts you to do a lumbar puncture on your own, being the responsible woman she is,” House gave a sarcastic hum back, whilst staring at her in disbelief. “I gotta say Junior, your ratio of lack of _self_ confidence verses general confidence is…astounding.” Talia let out a short laugh and turned away from him shamefully.

“I mean, I’d say I’m a good doctor but you’re all _great_ doctors. Sometimes I worry that I’m way out of my depth in that place, House,” she admitted in embarrassment. She was physically cringing at how vulnerable she was being. “I may be your blood but I’m _not_ exactly like you. And I think that’s what people expected when Dr Cuddy hired me-”

“Um… _no_ ,” House corrected her with a grimace. “Dr Cuddy hired you _because_ you’re ‘not exactly like me’. That hospital would crash and burn if they had to deal with my twin - I don’t think she has the funds to deal with that. $200 mil sure as hell wouldn’t cover it.” Talia shot him a thankful smile and House gave her the smallest of smirks back. “How _are_ those seizures, by the way?”

“Pretty much non existent now!” Talia announced with a proud beam suddenly bursting onto her face. “I mean, I think it’s cos I’m on heavy ass medication which makes me feel tired, nauseous, cranky _and_ like I need to be on Chase 24/7-”

_“LA LA LA LA LA LAAAA!”_ House suddenly shouted with his fingers plunged into his ears, refusing to hear anymore. Talia simply laughed and jumped off the sofa to make them something for dinner.

She _still_ didn’t know that House knew the truth about Ryan.

…

The next evening was Vogler’s event - i.e; the evening of House’s ‘kiss ass speech’. As he and Talia stood in the big posh reception area of the hotel, waiting for the rest of the team, Talia took it upon herself to give him a pep talk. “Look, _don’t_ overdo it too much, okay? I hate him as much as you, but you just need to say a few nice words to his adoring fans and move the hell on,” she hissed to him, recognising that fleeting look of contemplation in his eyes and not feeling too good about it.

“ _Nice?_ ” House scoffed under his breath, “I’m _always_ nice!”

“House,” Talia winced as she fixed his suit jacket for him. “Like I said - _a few nice words._ Don’t let your damn arrogance get in the way here, House. There are jobs on the line. And when I say jobs, I _mostly_ mean my boyfriend’s, cos I know you find Cameron too hot to fire her and you admire Foreman too much to fire him. Do you understand?” House paused for a moment.

_“Arrogant?”_ he finally scoffed, “I’m _never-_ ”

“House I _mean_ it!” Talia begged him desperately. He rolled his eyes and glanced over her shoulder to see the rest of his team finally enter the venue.

“Go coddle your boyfriend,” he yawned, before limping off to wherever he needed to sit. Talia gasped and spun around just in time to see Chase approach her with an amazed look on his face, with Cuddy, Wilson and Cameron right behind him. Talia knew full well what Chase was ogling at. She was in another reasonably tight short cocktail dress and she was all done up again. This time her hair was neatly slicked in a side bun, and those plump red lips were really accentuating her beauty.

So she _wasn’t_ surprised to see Chase look so blown away. She’d be mad if he wasn’t, in fact.

“Wow. Good _lord_ ,” Chase murmured once he reached her, bringing her in by her small waist. Talia smirked up at him and placed her hands on his suited chest, watching his hungry eyes run over her body to soak up every inch of her beauty. “Talia-” he breathed.

“Yes, handsome?” Talia hummed back innocently, barely moving her lips.

“You know you’re one hundred percent _not_ going back home with House tonight, right?” Chase whispered into her ear, sending shivers straight down her spine.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Talia giggled back before pressing a thankful kiss to his lips. But she found Chase deepening the kiss with ease, the need for her overpowering his usually steady composure, to the point where Talia had to break the kiss with another shy laugh. She shook her head at him jovially. “Damn Robert, are _you_ taking my medication too?” she joked lightly, as she wiped the slight red smudge of her lipstick remaining on his lips with her thumb.

“Nope! Just feeling like the luckiest guy on the freakin’ planet - again,” Chase chuckled back.

As the dinner went ahead, the team got to bond a little more. It was a beautiful change for them because Cuddy and Wilson were included too for once. “You guys never told us that you made it official!” Cameron gasped quietly to Chase and Talia, whilst Cuddy and Wilson broke off into their own conversation on the side.

“Didn’t everyone assume that we already _had?_ ” Talia blinked back in genuine surprise.

“I mean _yeaaaah_ but it’s still nice to _say!_ ” Cameron rolled her eyes, making Talia giggle and roll her eyes too. She and Cameron had actually become rather close in the past few weeks, and she was somewhat loving it. It was nice to have another woman that she could talk to and relate to when the testosterone between the guys got a little too much, and Cameron _always_ managed to soothe her anxiety.

“Sorry, we’ll remember to let you know our every move,” Chase blinked, throwing an arm round Talia’s shoulders as Cuddy raised her eyebrows at them both.

“Hey, as long as you two don’t start bringing your domestics into work, I’m _more_ than happy with the relationship blooming,” she nodded over at them with a little smirk. Talia shot her a smile of appreciation whilst Chase nodded back, showing how seriously he was taking her request. House always called him a suck up for showing respect to authority but realistically, that was just how he was raised.

Unfortunately, before they could all ‘bond’ some more, Vogler had taken to the stage and had launched into his announcement speech. Just looking at him made Talia’s breath hitch in her throat and Chase placed a hand on her knee to keep her calm.

“When, _oh when_ , will this dude leave us all alone?” Talia murmured under her breath as a waiter came round with a beautiful selection of desserts to place on the table.

“Hopefully never, Talia,” Cuddy muttered back without moving her lips. Talia’s cheeks to flushed slightly but she rolled her eyes all the same, before refocussing her attention to what Vogler instead, noticing that House had now been asked to take to the stage. The butterflies in her stomach were now fluttering about non stop. She had only been living with her father for a little over four months - but she already knew him a little _too_ well. Something in his eyes let her know that he wasn’t going to play fair this evening.

And, of course - she was right.

House took to the stand and began to elegantly address the audience, to talk about how Vogler’s company…

… was a complete and utter money grabbing _fraud_. Cameron’s mouth dropped open and she turned to Chase, who was busy downing his drink with his eyes firmly trained on his empty plate in front of him. Cuddy hung her head in disappointment whilst Wilson smothered his face with his programme booklet, wanting to die then and there. Meanwhile, Talia was absolutely _livid_. She had stressed to House that there were jobs on the line, but he clearly didn’t care.

He _just_ couldn’t help himself, could he?

“Oh we are _so_ done for,” Chase muttered under his breath with a wince, putting his glass back down. Talia ran her tongue over her bottom lip and gave out a short, bitter laugh in response - she knew that much was true.

Maybe Ryan was the least of her issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so I know I swerved from the roughness of the Ryan storyline for a moment, but that's because the whole fanfic is about to get STUPIDLY heavy and I know I need to provide balance <3 also I loved this episode so I needed to pay homage to it lmao. thank you for the love!


	25. why even bother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: this chapter includes details of abuse and the *brief* mention of childloss

Talia marched into the hospital two days after the speech fiasco to start her shift - and, to her annoyance, walked bang into Stacy. “Could you watch where you’re going?” Stacy snapped at her as they almost collided. Talia just faked a smile and breezed past her - but Stacy wasn’t quite done. “Wait, Talia!” Talia rolled her eyes and spun back around with a poised grimace.

“Hm?”

“Can I talk to you, please? In private?” Stacy asked hesitantly. Talia’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly at her request but she nodded regardless, far too worried about who House had decided to fire to put up a fight, and silently followed her second biggest enemy into her office. Yes, things were slightly less tense between them nowadays, but that’s because Talia took it upon herself to stay well out of Stacy’s way.

Once they were both in her office, Stacy invited Talia to take a seat - but she shook her head and chose to stand opposite Stacy’s desk instead, not buying the sudden friendliness. “Look. When we last spoke, it got a little tense…and I take accountability for that. Seeing you here on my first day after not seeing you for years…it freaked me out,” Stacy began awkwardly. Talia simply pushed her tongue over her teeth and waited for her to get to the point. “But ever since you said what you did about my son being alive - it’s been eating at me. At first I tried to ignore it, but _now_ I’m losing sleep over it. So I want you to explain what happened on that night and why the _hell_ it was giving you trauma induced seizures-”

Oh? How did _she_ know about that?

Regardless - Talia had her answer ready.

“No. Absolutely not,” she replied almost instantaneously. Stacy opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again in surprise. In fact, she resembled a fish, and if Talia wasn’t so heated she would’ve burst out laughing.

“I…I’m _sorry-?_ ”

_“No,”_ Talia repeated, a little blunter this time. “I’m sorry, but when I wanted to get this sorted earlier, you pretty much told me to go to hell. Now I’m doing well on medication, I have a wonderful boyfriend who genuinely cares about me, I love my job aside from the fact that House now has to _fire_ one of us-”

“Actually, Vogler took back his donations and quit - so no, House doesn’t,” Stacy interrupted her, causing Talia’s head to jerk back in surprise. “So that’s the last of your demons gone, whereas _mine_ -”

“That’s not the last of my demons! It can’t be for as long as _you’re_ here,” Talia scoffed, her dark brows furrowing together. “I can’t _believe_ you’re suddenly pushing me to explain-”

“You can’t? He was my _son,_ ” Stacy reminded her loudly.

“Yes, and he was my _boyfriend_ ,” Talia reminded her even louder, already feeling her heart rate increase. “Oh! He was also my abuser and my weakest link and my biggest threat and-”

“Oh god, it’s like clockwork. _This_ is why the police let you go with no conclusive arrest! If he was so outrageously abusive then why the hell didn’t you tell anyone?!” Stacy hissed, slamming her hands on the desk in frustration. It was becoming clear where Ryan got his behaviour from.

“ _Seriously?_ You’re a damn lawyer and a _woman_ \- figure it out!” Talia barked back, this time without flinching at the bang like last time. The two women stared each other out, panting heavily as the tension began to suffocate them.

Eventually, Stacy’s shoulders dropped and she shook her head.

“Years, Talia, I have resented you for _years_ ,” she admitted thickly. “I hated you so much, because I blamed you for the fact that I no longer have my son.” Talia bit down on her jaw and tore her eyes away from hers, feeling them well up with dangerous tears. But she couldn’t cry. Not in front of her. “And now you’re telling me that he’s alive? How was I _meant_ to react? It’s been five years-”

“Oh god. Please, Stacy. _Don’t_ push me on this one,” Talia begged, holding her head in her shaky hands. “ _Please_. Because whether Ryan’s alive or dead, you will never _un_ -hate me. In fact, you’re going to hate me even _more_ if you hear how I feel about him today, even after all those years of silence, grief, blame, and _self hatred_ have passed.” The tears began to spill out of Stacy’s eyes at that exact moment. The density of the conversation was clearly beginning to affect her.

“I’m just asking you to be honest with me now. I need to know what happened,” she pleaded, still staring Talia out. “It’s his b-birthday today, and I’m missing him more than ever. If there’s a chance he’s out there…”

Talia finally looked up at her at that point. Of _course_ it was his birthday. How on earth could she forget?

Well, quite easily actually.

“Fine. Your beloved birthday boy used to spit at me, degrade m-me, tell me I was worthless and beat me to sh*t just because he _could,_ ” she murmured, wiping her own eyes and standing up straighter despite her wobbly knees. “He made me _lose_ my baby boy and I had to give birth to him anyway. Then he let me recover and was the sweetest ever…and then _continued_ beating m-me to sh*t and said that if I was to tell anyone, they wouldn’t believe me because 'everyone _loved_ Ryan’ - and he was right! Look at that, you _still_ don’t believe me! One night he beat me _so bad_ that I was left within inches of my life, but that time, he slipped up and I hit him back. I hit back, then I h-h-hit him again, and then I just k-k-kept hitting until there was blood all over me. His _and_ mine. If I didn’t, he would’ve _killed_ me on that apartment floor and you, mother dearest, would’ve defended the hell out of him. So you know what? If I had to, I’d do it again. And again. And again, in fact. So…happy birthday to him, wherever he is. I’ll _spit_ on a cupcake in his honour.”

And with that, she left the office, leaving Stacy sat there in a bundle of tears and utter distress.

She should’ve _never_ asked.

…

Thanks to Stacy’s unnecessary confrontation, Talia had to calm herself down and compose herself before entering House’s office. She took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face as she opened the door. “Sorry I’m late - I got side tracked,” she smiled at her team sweetly. But no one answered. In fact, Cameron glanced over at Foreman awkwardly, who immediately glanced over at Chase, who uncomfortably dropped his head.

“I’m…gonna go give Mrs Adams that MRI,” Foreman excused himself with a brief smile before speedily disappearing.

“I….er…me too. I’ll catch up with you later, Talia,” Cameron beamed, before quickly following Foreman out. Chase cleared his throat and was about to leave too, but Talia placed a restrictive hand on his chest. She didn’t like the secrecy - it made her far too paranoid.

“Chase, what the hell is going on?” she asked him lowly, whilst Chase attempted to avoid her eye contact. Talia cupped his jaw and lifted it up so that he met her gaze. “Chase, you’re scaring me now,” she laughed a little anxiously.

“Alright, but _please_ don’t freak out?” Chase began hesitantly, finally looking at her full on. Talia dropped her hand from his face and nodded.

“Go on?”

“Cameron was pissed with House for his selfishness with the whole speech thing, especially cos he didn’t seem to care that it would get one of us fired, so she practically handed in her notice. House practically… _surprisingly_ …somewhat begged her to stay, but she said she’d only stay here if House… took her on a date tomorrow,” Chase explained carefully, soon seeing Talia’s face drop. “Yeah, I-”

“I…-?” she whispered, before literally clamping her hand over her mouth. “Cameron and my _father-?_ ”

“Yeah, Foreman and I were just as disturbed as you are, T,” Chase shuddered to himself. “And House actually agreed!”

“Oh? Well then you know we’re _so_ going to whatever restaurant they’re going to, right?” Talia blinked suddenly, as a cheeky little smirk began to grow. Chase looked horrified at her excitement and opened his mouth to complain, but Talia beat him to it. “Baby _pleeeeaaase!_ It could be fun!”

“FUN?” Chase repeated in disgust. “Honestly Talia, I’d literally rather be anywhere else than seated opposite-”

“Oh my god _no_ , we won’t double date, you twat!” Talia suddenly giggled, rolling her eyes. She playfully tugged at the lapels of his white coat before running her hands lovingly down his chest. “We can…I dunno, go and grab a table furthest in the corner and just… _spy_.” Only then did Chase’s face morph into one of keen interest.

“ _Ohhhhh._ I like the way you think!” he hummed cheekily, tapping her nose. “You know, you might not _look_ like House, but you sure as hell inherited his troublemaking tendencies.”

“Wow. Way to ruin the mood, Robert,” Talia frowned as Chase chuckled and pressed a quick apologetic kiss to her lips.

…

Later that day, Talia had strolled back into the office after completing a gruelling two hours of clinic duty, just to see Cameron sat at the desk scribbling something down - which she wasn’t expecting. “Oh! Talia, hi,” Cameron beamed at her casually.

“My _dad_ , Cameron?” Talia winced, causing Cameron’s smile to slip off completely.

“Great. Let me guess - Chase told you?”

“Again, doesn’t Chase _always?_ ”

“Look I know it sounds weird but I…I…okay, I have _no_ excuse,” Cameron mumbled out uncomfortably - but then she noticed that Talia was actually smirking.

“Hey! You find whoever makes you happy! If it’s House, then it’s House,” she shrugged, lifting her hands in surrender. “ _I’m_ not gonna get in the way of that!”

“Wait…so you don’t mind?” Cameron clarified in uncertainty. Talia let out a little tinkering laugh.

“Nope. You _crack on_ , love,” she sighed as she slid over to the coffee machine. Cameron nodded and fell quiet for a few moments.

“Do you…do have any idea what I should wear?” she suddenly asked, making Talia accidentally drop her cup so that it cluttered into the sink. She spun around to face her friend again.

“Okay, I may be ‘fine’ with it - but there’s a _line_ , Allison,” she winced as her cheeks tinged a slight pink. Cameron gritted her teeth and went just as red as her.

“Right. Sorry,” she murmured out uncomfortably.

…

The next evening, Talia and Wilson were sat on House’s sofa, eagerly watching him get ready for the date in question. Both of them had amused looks fixed firmly on their faces at the sight of him get all flustered and awkward about what to wear. “Honestly House, I prefer the black jacket,” Talia told him with a helpful nod. House simply shot her a small glare of contempt and said nothing back, but Talia bit back her laughter and carried on. “I do! Wilson, don’t _you_ prefer the black jacket?”

“I _do indeed_ prefer the black jacket,” Wilson agreed with a steady nod, leaning his head to the side. “But if he’s doing the black jacket, he has _got_ to get rid of those pants. They’re shocking.”

_“No!”_ Talia gasped back, her eyes widening in exaggerated surprise. “I _love_ the trousers! So chic.”

“‘Trousers’,” Wilson repeated with a chuckle. “You’re so…British.”

“Hey! I-”

“Neither _one_ of you deserve a key to my place,” House grumbled moodily as he made his way into the kitchen and whacked open the fridge. Talia blinked over at him with a frown and craned her neck to try and see what he was looking for whilst Wilson copied.

“Wait, eating before a date? Is that _normal?_ ” he murmured to Talia out of the side of his mouth.

“I mean only if you think the _food’s_ gonna suck,” Talia began to whisper back - until they both actually saw what House took out of the fridge.

It was a beautiful purple corsage.

“AWWWW!” Talia cooed, scrambling off the sofa and running over to him. “Oh my god, House! _Why_ is that the cutest thing I’ve ever seen?”

“Okay, I really wasn’t ready for _that_ ,” Wilson whistled as he leaned forward to see it better.

“Is it…okay?” House asked Talia blandly, halfheartedly holding it into the air. Talia jutted out her bottom lip and nodded, reaching for House’s face and giving his stubbled cheeks a little squeeze between her thumb and fingers.

“You’re _adorable_ ,” she cooed before poking his nose. House rolled his eyes and tore his head from her grip. “I gotta say, though, if you do decide to make my closest friend my stepmum - please don't ask me to speak at the wedding. There’s a big chance I’ll do a speech _a la Vogler._ ” Suddenly, the apartment buzzer went off and Talia’s eyes lit up. Wilson began to get up to answer it, but she stopped him. “It’s Chase,” she whispered, shuffling off her dressing gown to reveal a short nude coloured dress and swapping the gown out for a big brown faux fur coat instead.

“Wha- where are _you_ going?” Wilson blinked in confusion.

“Date night! House can’t be the only one having fun,” Talia giggled, throwing him a wink before she looked at her reflection one last time. “Don’t wait up!” And with that, she shoved on her heels, released her long locks from the ponytail it was in and made her way out.

…

“Why do you always leave me rendered speechless on date nights?” Chase sighed longingly. He was sat across from her in the fancy restaurant several minutes later, and hadn’t stopped staring since he picked her up. even though Talia was used to it, it still made her blush every time.

“Because you _luuuuurve_ me,” she teased, smirking against the rim of her wineglass.

“ _Love_ you?” Chase chuckled with risen brows. “You bloody _wish_.”

“What?! You’re telling me that you _don’t?_ ” Talia mock-gasped as she whacked open the menu and began to flick her way through. Chase bit down on both his lips and watched her in silence. “Well, when you’re finally ready to admit it, let’s hope I actually say it back, huh?”

“Oh shut up, of course you would,” Chase smirked back. Talia let out a little giggle and absent-mindedly glanced over Chase’s shoulder - when her eyes accidentally fell on the people she’d been waiting to see, walking into the restaurant.

“Ohhh my god,” she murmured under her breath, ducking behind her menu ever so slightly. “Andddd we _officially_ have Greg and Allison at 11 o’clock!” Chase’s relaxed eyes grew wide and he found himself holding his breath, unable to even risk looking over his shoulder. It was such a bizarre sight. House looked both uncomfortable and awkward, but it was somewhat…sweet.

“Do they look good together?” Chase hissed.

“They kinda do…well, Cameron looks gorgeous and House looks like he wants to die, but what else is new,” Talia blinked in surprise as she lowered the menu again. She let out a little sigh and leant on her hand. “Wow. What do you think they’re gonna talk about together? Naughty stuff?” she asked her boyfriend, who as still trying to choose between the beef and lamb. His eyes flickered up to her and he pulled a face.

“Urgh. I don’t know - what do _you_ and House talk about?”

An interesting question.

“Hm. Not much, to be honest,” Talia answered truthfully, with a little embarrassed wince. “It’s all surface level stuff. If I try and get too personal he shuts me down, father or not.” Chase couldn’t help but look shocked.

“Wait, so you’ve _never_ spoken about anything other than work?” he frowned. “Like…well…”

_“Ryan?”_ Talia guessed dryly. Chase clamped his jaw shut and gave her a weird shrug. “No. Not yet. In fact, I don’t know if he even-”

“Yeah, he knows,” Chase quickly admitted with his hands risen. “Sorry…that one’s my fault.” Talia let out a shaky breath and picked up a crusty bread roll from the bread basket, picking at it with little enthusiasm.

“Was that when you ran out on me and left me to seize up in the laundry room?” she guessed under her breath.

“Yup,” Chase murmured lowly.

“Of course it was. And…what did he say?”

“He was actually pretty shocked - and I rarely see House shocked. He said ‘Stacy’s kid?’ and then ran over to make sure you weren’t, you know, _dying,_ ” Chase recalled with flushed cheeks. “His reaction was a lot better than mine.”

“Weird, cos he never bothered chasing me up on it after that. I guess it’s cos he got his answers,” Talia frowned with a slight sigh. “Actually, now that I think about it, our relationship on a whole is super weird. Like one night we’ll say nothing, then other times it’ll be pretty chilled. Like the other day, we spoke about that bastard Vogler and just spent most of the night bitching about him. _That_ was pretty fun.” Much to her surprise, Chase just let out a little noise and continued to nod away, carefully saying nothing - as if he knew exactly what was coming. “Apparently, one of us snaked House with the whole patient being on anti-depressants thing.”

But when Chase _continued_ to say nothing, something within Talia twitched.

Oh dear god - surely not.

“Chase…” Talia murmured out slowly, putting down the menu in steady movements like a wild animal stalking it’s prey. Now he couldn’t even look at her, and that confirmed her worries. “Oh no. _Not_ you, Robert. Not f*cking _you!_ ” she groaned in utter disappointment, slamming her hands on either side of her face.

“Talia, I was just trying to protect my job! The guy was relentless - it was nothing personal!” Chase finally burst out in frustration - although he knew it was a losing game.

“Ohhh no no no,” Talia held her hand up to stop him, “no, _stop._ Stop. Because _Foreman_ said he was approached by him and Cameron did too - and at one point, it was _me_ he held the vendetta against. None of them folded. You’ve known me for even less time than House, would you go and snitch on _me_ too?”

“What? T, that is insane!” Chase hissed, leaning forward before people started to look. “You’re my girlfriend!” But Talia seriously didn’t want to hear it.

“Yeah and you could’ve gotten your girlfriend’s dad _fired_ , Chase,” she muttered quietly in disgust, her sea-grey eyes filling with regret. “Even if your reasoning made sense, you didn’t even care enough to let me know? When we’re meant to be all transparent these days? Cool.” She stood up and shook her head, grabbing her coat and shoving it on without a second thought. “I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Oh god. _Talia_ ,” Chase grumbled as he buried his head into his hands. He knew that it was a bad idea after he did it, but saving his job meant a lot more to him at the time. Boy, was he regretting it now. “T, please, I’m sorry-”

“Oh f*ck _off_ , Chase,” Talia mumbled out, before pushing her chair back in and storming over to both House and Cameron’s table, much to Chase’s immediate embarrassment. As soon as she approached them, House let out a knowing groan and rolled his eyes whilst Cameron’s blushed up cheeks tinged an even deeper shade of pink, desperately lowering her eyes so that she avoided her at all costs. “ _Sorry_ to interrupt guys,” Talia beamed at them both, leaning her hands on their table, “but I thought you should know something! House, my darling boyfriend over there was the link between you and Vogler’s drama. _He_ snaked you out. So if you have room for one more on this _sweet night_ of romance, please feel free to take the lonely Aussie in the corner - drinks are on him.”

And with that, she blew them both kisses and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving House and Cameron to stare over at Chase, who was smothering his face with his hands and sinking lower into his seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i thinkkkk the next chapter will be where my original story ended? so we're getting to like...original juiciness. that's exciting. what do we think - does talia have the right to be upset with him? was chase an idiot? will stacy STILL be tempted to re-open the case now she knows why talia kicked off on her twat of a son? questions, questions!


	26. he was always there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: this chapter includes the frequent mention of domestic abuse and alcoholism. 

The morning after Chase’s little revelation, Talia woke up with a splitting headache. She lazily rolled over to check the time on her phone, and quickly saw that she had around four missed calls from him - but she couldn’t care less. _He_ was the one that dropped the information on absolutely everything House was doing…and he didn’t even have the decency to tell her?

_That_ was the bit that hurt the most.

The funniest thing was, when she entered the hospital grounds that morning and ignored him, Chase didn’t dare try and fight it. He was annoyed at himself too. It was an easily avoidable piece of drama and yet he fell right into it.

This morning in particular, Talia happened to be on clinic duty whilst on call for House, which was a perfect way to distract herself f for the time being. “I’ve just been so tired all the time,” the patient, whose name was Leona, explained hoarsely as Talia took her temperature. She was a _stunning_ young woman with the most beautiful tight dark curls - but at the same time, her face looked drawn out and her mood was clearly low. Her eyes were tearful. “I…I have _no_ motivation anymore.”

“Uh huh,” Talia hummed under her breath, giving her a break from the thermometer. “And have you had any re-”

“I’m pretty sure I have cancer,” Leona interrupted bluntly as she awkwardly scratched her palm. Talia raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t uncommon for a patient to assume the worst, but it _was_ uncommon for them to come out with it so carelessly. She frowned to herself and chucked the disposable cap of the thermometer into the plastic yellow bin behind her.

“I see,” she nodded slowly. “Cancer of…?”

“Um…b-b-breast?” Leona stuttered out in uncertainty. “I…uh…” Now it was pretty obvious - she was on the edge. She was literally biting back her tears.

“Leona, are you okay?” Talia asked gently whilst snapping on a new pair of gloves.

“I’m fine,” Leona waved her off as she wiped her nose. “Could you p-please check for lumps?”

“Sure thing. Arms up for me, please?” Leona did as she was told and Talia gently prodded around the underarm and breast area, not feeling anything so far.

But then Leona started to wince. She squeezed her eyes shut and a whimper escaped her lips.

“Sorry…was that tender?” Talia blinked up at her in concern.

“A l-l-little,” Leona blinked back shakily. How strange.

“Mind if I take a look?” Talia asked, trying to sound casual so that she didn’t panic her. Strangely enough, Leona just lowered her head and said nothing, as her buoyant curls curtained her tensed face. Her odd lack of response just baffled Talia even more. “It’s _okay_ , Leona - it’ll only take a second. I just wanna make sure it’s nothing concerning. Is your period due?”

“N-no-”

“Then the area shouldn’t be _that_ tender,” Talia sighed slightly, watching Leona’s shoulders slump even further. “If I could just take a look, we can manage it early, right?”

“O-okay,” Leona finally agreed, before gingerly lifting her top up to expose her left breast.

But Talia’s face fell once she saw the state of it.

It was completely bruised, swollen and hot to touch - and it didn’t take her long to figure out what had happened. She slowly lifted Leona’s wrist and pulled up her sleeve, just to be met with raw red fingerprints around her skinny wrist.

This was far too close to home.

“Leona…you…you don’t think you have cancer, do you?” Talia murmured to her empathetically as she slowly pulled her top back down again. Leona’s tears started to run freely at that point, so Talia grabbed a few tissues and quickly handed them over, before crouching down in front of her.

“Please, _please_ just book me in for an overnight stay here,” Leona cried, holding the tissue to her nose, “run all the tests you want, do the biopsy, I don’t e-even care about the pain…just _please_ don’t make me go back to him t-tonight? _P-please._ He’ll _kill_ me.” Talia’s heart started to race at her innocent request. The similarities were hitting home all in one go, and all she could do was take deep breaths in and out whilst remaining as calm as possible.

“Leona, there are places you can go and people you can talk to,” she started off diplomatically - but Leona was already shaking her head. “If-”

“ _No_ \- he’ll kill me if he finds out I’ve gone to those shelters!” she blurted out in a panic. She grabbed Talia’s hand in desperation and stared straight in her eyes. _“Please.”_

…

“Hey Wilson,” Talia beamed as she plonked herself down opposite him in the cafeteria. Wilson glanced up and smiled.

“Talia! I take it you’re here to talk about the cancer referral you suddenly sprung up on me for your patient who… _doesn’t_ have cancer?” he guessed lightly, moving his cup away to give her some space. Talia winced and leaned back in her seat. “Yeah - she folded. Look, I _totally_ get that she wants to stay in the hospital, it’s pretty common - but cancer tests aren’t pleasant and I can’t just put-”

“She’s not homeless and she’s not a ‘druggie’, as you lot so kindly call them. She’s being _beaten_ to a _pulp_ , Wilson,” Talia put it plainly. But Wilson’s head just lolled lazily to the side and he let out the longest of sighs. He’d heard it all before.

“I _get_ it, Talia - but still. Once those main tests come back-”

“Then _hopefully_ we’ll have a better plan of action. It gives us time to figure it all out, no? She said she didn’t mind about the pain and I don’t doubt she’s been through worse,” Talia interrupted him with strong determination soaking her words.

“That is _insane_ -” Wilson began to argue again.

“That is _what she needs_ ,” Talia spoke a little louder, her eyes widening. “ _Please_ , Wilson! Just for a couple of days? Have a heart?” Wilson stared at her in disbelief before nodding reluctantly.

“Fine. I’ll… _pointlessly_ run the tests.”

“ _Thank_ you!” Talia sighed in relief, now picking up her sandwich. But Wilson blinked at her whilst she simply opened her mouth to take a large bite. “Wha- _oh_ , you’re waiting for me to go and book her in? Yeah…I kinda did it already.”

“Of _course_ you did, because you are your father’s child!” Wilson murmured, shaking his head and going back to his own limp chicken salad. Talia rolled her eyes and continued to chew. “Speaking of - how did his date go last night?”

“No idea! I left early cos Chase pissed me off - and I mean _really_ pissed me off,” Talia explained through a mouthful of food whilst covering her mouth politely. “I’m like…giving him _serious_ silent treatment right now.” Wilson chuckled under his breath and nodded. “But it’s still wild to me that House even agreed to go on that date in the first place. I mean yeah, Cameron’s beautiful and everything but…. _?_ ”

“I know! I thought he’d never find love again after Stacy,” Wilson added in as he wiped his mouth.

But those casual words made Talia’s heart rate increase. She wasn’t expecting that.

“Stacy?” she suddenly spluttered. “ _Love_ after Stacy? Stacy as in Warner? That Stacy? Love after _that_ Stacy Warner?” Wilson looked up at her with a little baffled chuckle.

“What…you mean you didn’t _know?_ ”

“Know _what?_ ” Talia asked slowly, putting down her sandwich with unsteady hands. “Are you saying that…House and Stacy…were once…” Her mouth ran dangerously dry and she wrung her hands together with a furrowing frown. She had _no_ idea, none whatsoever, in fact. “When were they dating? And for how…a-and for how _long?_ ”

“Well…they broke up about five years ago,” Wilson informed her with a confused frown. He thought she would’ve known all this - it wasn’t exactly a secret. “ _Before_ that they were together for another five years, which was impressive, considering most can’t bear being around House for more than five minutes. So…all in all, there’s, what, a decade between them?”

A decade? That’s certain overlap.

Talia’s hands suddenly started to shake, so she clasped them together as it all dawned on her.

“Oh…my, _god-_ ” she murmured out before leaping up again. “I have to go.” Before Wilson could even ask, she dashed straight out of the cafeteria and ran out of the hospital grounds without so much as signing out.

This couldn’t be real.

…

As soon as Talia got back to House’s apartment, she flew straight into the spare room and slammed herself onto her bed, beginning to hyperventilate. She whipped out her phone whilst measuring her pulse with the other hand - she knew the signs of a pending seizure and was cautious of triggering another one. The first place she called was the hospital, keeping her voice as steady as possible, despite the borderline panic attack she was having. “H-hi there, my name is Doctor Talia House, I was supposed to be on call for another few hours on Dr. Gregory House’s Diagnostics team…yes, until seven, but I’ve got this… _terrible_ rush of nausea and I don’t think I’ll be able to make it through the evening. Um…no, I’ve already taken myself home, I’ll let you know how I feel tomorrow. Okay…thank you so much…thanks, bye now.”

And then she hung up, trying not to cry. Then, she took another three deep breaths before contacting the only woman she hoped would tell the truth.

“Talia?” Miranda sounded considerably confused over the line. “Are you-”

“Mum, I need you to tell me the truth and tell me _now,_ ” Talia hissed, clutching the phone tightly to her ear. “Did House know who I was when he was dating Stacy?”

There was an awful silence over the line.

“Mum? I m-m-mean it, _answer me._ ”

“He…oh, I don’t _know_ , Talia! He always floated about but I didn’t officially tell him that you were his, and he never asked, so…” Miranda winced uncomfortably. “I’m going to say that no, he never knew for sure.”

“Oh, my god. Don’t be so STUPID! IT’S HOUSE! Of…of course he knew!” Talia shouted shakily, her heart still rapidly doing overtime. It was suddenly becoming clear. “F*cking hell…he knew… _everything._ ”

…

Talia’s bags were fully packed within about an hour. She couldn’t stay anymore. Her entire demeanour had been ruined because of these new revelations, and now she was breaking, if not _crumbling_ under all the pressure. So, when House finally limped in, threw down his stuff and immediately headed for the piano, she flung the spare room door open and marched over to stand in front of him with her arms crossed and her eyes tearful. He just glanced up briefly before refocussing his attention back to the smooth keys under his fingertips. “Did you know who I was when I turned up at your doorstep?” Talia confronted her father loudly.

But he just ignored her. Wrong move.

“ _House._ Did you _know_ , who I _was_ , when _I_ , turned _up?!_ ”

“Well from the obvious tone of voice, it sounds as if you already have your answer,” House murmured, still playing. Talia clenched her jaw and leaned over the piano so that she was physically getting in the way.

“I turned up all those months ago and you guessed who Mum was before I could even open my mouth - by first _and_ last name,” she hissed thickly as she felt the tears building. “I introduced myself as Talia House, but _you_ said Miranda Delmario…you said her name _twice_ and I didn’t say hers once. I don’t resemble my mother - and I know you’ve slept with enough women for me to be anyone’s. Then there’s Stacy… _you_ knew Stacy when _I_ knew Stacy because you knew Ryan, from what Chase told me. My _mum_ knew Stacy when _you_ knew Stacy and my mum knew _you_ …which means _you_ knew _everyone_. Everyone including…me. You knew I was yours, and you did f*ck all about it for almost _twenty five years_.”

But much to her horror, House said nothing and just lowered his head ever so slightly. So naturally, she snapped.

“Oh for _F*CKS SAKE, HOUSE!_ Do you know how _hard_ it was for me to be raised by that woman? And you _knew_ she was a drunkard at the time, and you also knew she wasn’t well mentally! You just sat on your ass and watched me be raised by someone so awful because you cared about no one but your damn self!” Talia sniffed, stamping her foot in irritation and hurt. “And th-then, asking Chase to get information out of me on Ryan? Was that for _your_ morbid curiosity or for Stacy’s benefit, so she could get a confession and go to the police?”

“I didn’t know _exactly_ who you were-” House began slowly - but Talia didn’t want to hear it.

“Ohhhh _spare me!_ You’re _Doctor Gregory House_ , you know f*cking _everything!_ ” she snapped back as the tears rapidly began to fall. “Is _that_ why you hired me? Because you wanted to do Stacy’s dirty work?”

“Stacy wasn’t even in the hospital-”

“Nah, you know what, House? You wanted to know who Ryan _really_ was? Your precious little _step son?_ Alright!” Talia hissed, wiping her tears away in a fluster. “I told Stacy the same thing just yesterday cos I’m ready to talk about it - Ryan beat me, he beat me so badly I miscarried our baby. He made me _lose_ my baby. One day I beat him back before he killed me, and I left him there to die.” She stormed back to her room and grabbed her bags before coming back out again. “Now you have my confession, do with it what you will. Talk to the police, go to Cuddy, liaise with Stacy, I couldn’t give a _sh*t._ We’re done.”

Then she left her father’s apartment, slamming the door shut behind her.

…

Talia impatiently rang the ivory white doorbell once, twice, three times in a row without even letting each ring finish. She was standing there in the rain, getting soaked through, and her tears were still running. Her chest was aching from all the crying and those thick tears were now seriously clouding her vision. She was just praying that he was in, because she didn’t know where she’d stay if he wasn’t-

“T?” Chase frowned at her once he finally swung his front door open. He was dressed in his grey jogging bottoms and black top number with a tea towel lazily flung on his shoulder. As soon as he looked at her properly, though - he started to panic. “Oh god! How long have you been out here for? Babe, you’re _soaking_ -”

“Can I stay here with you, p-p-please?” Talia cried miserably before he could finish. She nudged her head towards her sad little Barbie suitcase on the floor beside her, and Chase’s eyes widened.

“Y-yeah, of course you can you…weirdo _,_ ” he murmured half jokingly as he took her hand and led her into his warm house. Once she was safely inside, he shut the front door and held her face in his hands to assess her properly. The pity he took on her was almost immediate. “Oh baby girl…what the _hell_ happened?! Was it something at work? Wilson said you had a hard patient…wait, did you fall out with House? Did he kick you out?” he guessed quietly, his lips barely moving whilst his eyes filled with worry.

“He…he knew who I was a-a-all that time,” Talia choked out as the tears ran from her eyelids and into her mouth. Chase’s face fell and his shoulders slumped.

“You mean-”

“All along, he _always_ knew, Chase! He was always a-a-around-”

“What, you mean ever since you were a _kid?_ ” Chase clarified in disbelief as he swiped her falling tears away with his thumbs. Talia nodded and let out the most bitter of choked up laughs.

“He _left_ me to be brought up by my sick mother, like I wasn’t _his_ problem too. He knew damn well that she was a drunkard and not fit for parenthood at that time, but he didn’t even try and intervene,” she mumbled thickly, trying to bite back the rest of her sobs.

“You sure he didn’t try to intervene _because_ he wasn’t sure if you were his?” Chase pointed out gently.

“N-no! He was dating Stacy _whilst_ I was with Ryan - he was living life happily on the sidelines with her and _then_ when she turned up, he t-tried and f-f-find ‘the truth’ about w-what- h-h-h-happened-”

“Okay shhhh…it’s alright, T,” Chase murmured. He brought her in for a hug whilst holding the back of her head in comfort. “Hey, it’s okay. I know it hurts…but can we get you outta these soaking wet clothes at least? You’re giving me a cold just by _looking_ at you.” He released her with a little smile and Talia nodded quickly, wiping her swollen eyes with her sodden sleeves. Chase dashed off to fetch her a spare t-shirt and to give her some time alone to pull herself together. She sniffed feebly and took a look around her new temporary home. She really _did_ like Chase’s place. It was actually quite large and everything was always kept tidy, which was bizarre given that he was a reasonably wealthy young man who must’ve left home early - so she expected at least a little bit of a ‘bachelor’ mess.

Then, before she knew it, Chase had returned and handed her one of his hoodies and flannel pyjama bottoms - both of which were entirely too baggy for her…but it was the thought that counted.

“Thanks babe,” she sniffed glumly, already peeling her soaking tank top off her skin and over her head without so much as turning away. Chase’s eyes went wide at her exposed torso and his lips parted in surprise, not expecting her to be completely braless underneath. “Ummm, Robert? You’re staring at me, dude,” Talia teased lightly despite the tears.

“Can you really blame me?” Chase scoffed back with a small smile. Then he thought of something else, and his smile slipped away. “Talia, I’m…I’m so sorry for what I did with the whole Vogler thing. I mean…well, no, I’m not _that_ sorry I did it, but I really should’ve told you first.”

“It’s whatever. I’ve got bigger fish to fry at this point. If House couldn’t ride hard for me growing up, I’m not gonna ride super hard for him,” Talia waved him off as she shoved the hoodie on, practically drowning inside of it but loving how comfy it was. She rolled off her leggings, but didn’t bother with replacing them with the bottoms - instead she tiptoed over to Chase and wrapped her slender arms around his neck. “You do know that you’ve _basically_ asked me to move in? Albeit…temporarily,” she murmured whilst staring longingly at his lips.

“Um…no… _you_ asked _me_ if you’d be able to move in, albeit temporarily,” Chase chuckled back, wrapping his arms around her hidden body tightly. “D’you think it’s too soon? We’ve only been together for…uh…”

“Yeah, I’ve lost count too,” Talia admitted with flushed cheeks. “But whatever the number of months are, it feels like _way_ longer, no?”

“Yeaaah, I can confirm that it does,” Chase smirked back as Talia’s fingers skimmed through his blonde locks, and she began playing in them as he spoke. “I gotta say, though - I’m surprised you managed to find a parking space near here-” But before he could continue, Talia had hungrily locked lips with him, unable to control herself any longer. It was shocking, because her kisses were powerful, borderline ferocious, full of passion, and it blew Chase away completely - he’d _never_ seen her this ravenous before. They could barely break for air as Talia shoved Chase straight onto the sofa, his eyes wide in both need and surprise. “Tal-”

“Oh shut up for a second, Robert,” Talia panted before she straddled him and kissed him, full of lust, all over again.

A bizarre way of dealing with her Daddy issues, to be honest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, that's just how talia deals with her paternal issues - leave her alone! we're getting to the meat of the first instalment of the story now, cannot wait for you guys to read what i've got coming up...might post two chapters next week cos i'm feeling cheeky x


	27. ulcers and understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: chapter includes mention of abuse

As soon as Talia woke up in Chase’s large bed the next morning, the first thing she could hear in the distance was the sound of pots and pans clattering about in the kitchen. She swung her slender legs out of bed, still only wearing his hoodie, and padded her way out of Chase’s bedroom and into the kitchen. There stood the man himself, rummaging in his fridge whilst half ready for work. His trousers were on, but his suit jacket was lazily flung to the side and his pale purple shirt was only half buttoned. Talia bit back a smile as she approached him, humming a little song, and Chase spun around. “Oh! Morning beautiful,” he smirked.

“Good morning, handsome!” Talia giggled shyly. “I say, what is that _tasty_ crisp…burning smell?”

“Uhh…toast?” Chase winced, binning the burnt slices before hurrying to fix his shirt. Talia let out the smallest of laughs before sliding over to him and playfully tugging at his collar. She straightened out his shirt with a dreamy look in her eyes. “I have to say,” he murmured under his breath as he watched her intently, “you were _particularly_ incredible last night.”

“Ha. That’s cos I was frustrated, and I transferred _that_ frustration into _another_ kind of frustration,” Talia smirked as she did up his buttons for him.

“Well, if that’s you when you’re _upset_ then…” Chase trailed off with a suggestively risen brow. Talia’s cheeks flushed as she leaned her head on his shoulder in sheer embarrassment, causing him to let out a chuckle before kissing her temple. He entangled his fingers in her hair and gave her a mini head massage for a few blissful seconds, as the two of them simply enjoyed being in each other’s embrace. She made him so feel comfortable…so at peace.

And that was _rare_ for him this early in a relationship.

“Wait, you’re not even coming in today are you?” Chase suddenly frowned down to her.

“Nope! It’s my day off,” Talia hummed, pressing kisses all the way up his neck and trailing round his jaw.

“What you gonna _do_ whilst I’m gone? Aside from miss me _way_ too much, of course,” Chase hummed as he slowly slid his hands down her back, making her heart beat a little faster.

“Um….I dunno? Probably tidy up,” she murmured under her breath. “It’ll help clear my head-”

“You’re _so_ sad,” Chase grinned down at her.

“Hey! _Pardon me_ for appreciating organisation!” Talia joked lightly as she prodded his chest. Chase planted a sweet kiss on her forehead.

“Whatever keeps you happy. I’ll see you later…there’s a spare key in the fruit bowl if you wanna go out,” he informed her as he let go of her to shove on his jacket. “TV remote is there, there’s food in the fridge…just…try _not_ to burn down my house?” Talia giggled and nodded.

“Deal. Thank you _again_ for letting me stay here. Have a good day, baby,” she waved, blowing him a kiss as she watched him leave the apartment. Chase threw her one last wink before grabbing his briefcase and slipping out the front door, shutting it behind him. Talia let out a small sigh before delving into what she really wanted to do - snoop around at his apartment in finer detail. There were so many books everywhere, and lots of little trinkets from around the world. It was cute, and it was quite comfy. At this point, Talia just wanted to shower. So she did just that, then brushed her teeth, got on her deodorant and perfume, and popped _another_ one of Chase’s hoodies on over her tank top and jeans. Then she blasted out The Cranberries and started tidying. She did a little dance as she swept the floors and sprayed down the surfaces, singing into the broomstick handle and bopping her head from left to right until her hair was draped over her face like a messy curtain. She didn’t even _think_ about House - because she didn’t care to. This was the happiest she had been since arriving in New Jersey from London.

That was…until the phone rang.

Talia quickly paused the music with a gasp, totally freaked out by such a foreign sound. She didn’t know whether Chase would want her answering his calls or not, but something within her told her to do it. So she picked up the phone in a haste, straightening herself out and running her fingers through her hair, before clearing her throat. “Hello…Robert Chase’s residence?” she answered slightly timidly.

“Oh. Hi there, c-can I speak to Rob, please?” came a polite Australian female voice down the line. Talia’s lips parted opened in surprise.

“I’m so sorry he’s at work right now - can I take a message?” she offered up.

“Well that…would depend on who I’m speaking to,” the woman sniffed back, her voice slightly muffled.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Talia…I’m his girlfriend,” Talia answered with a short smile, even though it still felt beautifully _bizarre_ to say.

“Ah…hi sweetheart. I’m Juliette - Robert’s stepmother.”

“Oh wow, hi!” Talia gasped, smiling slightly. “It’s so nice to speak-”

“I’m…sorry to interrupt,” Juliette murmured out shakily, “but I have some pretty awful news about h-h-his father? Rowan?” Talia’s heart dropped into the depths of her stomach and she took a few steps back in preparation. This didn’t sound good.

“What…what do you mean?” she asked nervously. “What happened to him?”

“He…he passed away this morning…he was battling an aggressive form of lung cancer. I’m well aware that he never actually told-” Juliette suddenly broke out into sobs before she could finish, and Talia opened her mouth to console her - but it felt as if she had just been punched in the gut. She had to take a seat on the newly fluffed sofa as her knees started to give way. Talia couldn’t focus her attention. It was secondhand devastation. Her heart was shattering…shattering for _Chase_.

She knew this was going to break him.

“Thanks for letting us know. I’ll…I’ll call Robert and tell him,” Talia assured Juliette shakily, running her fingers through her hair repeatedly. “I’m _so_ sorry for your loss Juliette. Take…take care. Bye.” Then she hung up and let out a loud groan. She didn’t know how to handle this, but she knew that she had to be careful. So she called the hospital and asked the receptionist to connect Chase to the line, calling it an emergency. Before long, she heard his voice.

“Ya know, you can’t just _call me mid shift_ cos you miss me babe,” Chase was already chuckling cheekily down the line. But instead of receiving a smart retort as he usually would, he heard silence instead. It unnerved him. “Hello? T…?”

“Chase, I just got a call from Juliette,” Talia started cautiously. She leapt to her feet and started pacing the living room floor to gather her strength. “Your father…h-honey, I’m sorry, but he passed away early this morning.”

There was another deafening silence.

“…baby?” Talia called out tentatively.

“I…um…” Chase suddenly choked out, as the tears of surprise welled in his eyes. “I don’t…wh-what did he… _die…_ of?” Talia could hear his voice tremble and it broke her heart.

“Sounds like he had pretty aggressive form of lung cancer. I’m _so_ sorry,” she sniffed out quietly.

“Lung…what?! No, that’s…. _impossible_ ,” Chase denied abruptly. “Like it’s _literally_ impossible, Talia-”

“Chase, I know-”

“ _No_ Talia, cos if he had lung cancer he would’ve…” Chase trailed off and gulped as his palms began to sweat. His grip on the phone was loosening. He couldn’t even speak anymore.

“Robert, I’m coming down to bring you back,” Talia decided briskly, noticing that he’d been quiet for a little too long and not feeling comfortable with it. He was in absolutely no state to do anymore work today - it would be more dangerous than anything else. She dreaded to think what would happen if he got a case now with his mind _this_ scattered. “Robert? Baby, are you still there?” she blurted down the line in a panic.

But he had put down the phone.

“ _Sh*t! F*ck!_ ” Talia hissed as she slapped down the phone and skidded off into the bedroom to shove on some shoes and grab her car keys and coat. She had no makeup on, she was wearing her glasses, her hair was a complete mess from all head-banging to The Gorillaz and The Cranberries all day, but she genuinely didn’t care.

Chase needed her - so she was going to be there for him as he always had been for her.

Within 15 minutes she’d hurriedly pulled into the staff car park with her adrenaline pumping. She jumped out and rushed straight into reception…just to bump into none other than Cuddy.

_Not_ what she needed at the moment.

“Oh, Talia! Here on your day off?” she smiled as she stopped in front of her.

“Yeah, I’m just here to check on some stuff,” Talia nodded before giving her a brief smile back. She started to walk off, but Cuddy hadn’t quite finished yet.

“Has Wilson spoken to you about your patient?” she asked quietly. Talia blinked her eyes before rubbing them in wonder.

“My _patient?_ ” she repeated slowly. “Who- oh, _Leona?_ ”

“That’s the one,” Cuddy sighed at her obvious confusion. “That’ll be a _no,_ then. Follow me.” Talia was hesitant, knowing that Chase was still somewhere crumbling away, but she knew that her profession came first - so she followed her boss obediently. Cuddy led her into her office, slipped behind her desk and rustled around her drawers, before finally handing Talia the patient file. Talia took it from her with a frown and whacked it open, just for her eyes to immediately land on the bundle of forms and test results pertaining to _‘Leona Madeline’_. As she read over them, her heart started to race.

The whole day felt like she was trapped in the middle of a nightmare.

“She…no… _no way._ ”

“I know,” Cuddy sighed regretfully. “She _actually_ has cancer - and she’s refusing treatment.”

“Cancer of…what, _breast_ cancer?” Talia blinked in shock, looking up at Cuddy again, completely stumped. “What…but I did the examination and-”

“The bruising? I know,” Cuddy nodded. “Bruising aggravating cancer is uncommon, but I guess it was dormant and-”

“Wait, so she _wasn’t_ being abused?” Talia quickly clarified, tearing her eyes from Cuddy and back through to the folders once more.

“No…she was. But the bruising from the abuse and the less common bruising from the cancer merged into one. Harder to spot a huge difference if the entire breast is down,” Cuddy explained with a sigh as she sat behind her desk. Talia’s face was drained of all colour and she released a shaky sigh of disbelief.

Why _today_ , of all days?

“She’s in Wilson’s care now, but…she doesn’t want to be discharged. I was hoping you’d be able to talk her into leaving, since she is now _officially_ your patient.” Talia blinked at her blankly.

“You…you want me to _encourage_ her to die at home?” she clarified slowly. “ _With_ the man who beat her to sh*t and no doubt aggravated this thing?”

“In gentler words, yes,” Cuddy nodded back awkwardly. “Talia, she can’t just sit around and wait to die _here_. I know it sounds insensitive but…we need the space.”

“I bet! And if she decides to take the chemo route?”

“Then she comes in for treatment and we act as the hospital we _are_ instead of the _hospice_ she wants us to be.” Talia groaned and covered her face with the file.

“This is all my fault! I should’ve never let her-”

“No. You got her in because you wanted to give her a break, but you may have just given her a few more years of her life,” Cuddy corrected her swiftly. But Talia still didn’t look convinced - in fact, she looked disgusted with herself. “Oncology floor, Room 12.”

“R-right,” Talia nodded swiftly, clutching the file tightly to her chest. “I’ll go get my coat on and…uh…should she refuse treatment, how long are you willing to give her before she’s forced away?” Cuddy twisted her mouth and pressed her fingertips together.

“As long as she shows no new symptoms? Three days,” she decided, before logging onto her computer.

“Thank you _so_ much Dr. Cuddy,” Talia breathed gratefully, before sweeping out of the office and making her way over to the lift.

On her way however, much to her luck, she bumped into Chase- and he looked so broken that she froze.

“Oh, _baby!_ ” she gasped sadly, immediately taking his arm and pulling him into an empty nearby office which happened to be Wilson’s. Thankfully it was empty, so Talia shut the door behind them before taking Chase’s hollow face in her hands - but he nudged away from her touch.

“I’m _fine_ , T,” he muttered thickly, despite his red rimmed eyes. “You…uh…you didn’t have to come down here on your day off-”

“Of _course_ I did? You’re not fit to practice today, Chase,” Talia told him with sincerity bleeding through her words. “You have to at _least_ see that, no?”

“I…” Chase trailed off, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking a shaky breath in. Talia didn’t care if he fought her off again - she brought him in for a warm hug. But much to her surprise, and sadness, he clung onto her desperately instead of pushing her away.

“Ohhh, I’m so sorry, Robert,” Talia murmured comfortingly into his ear as she stroked his hair and rocked him from side to side. “You’ll be okay. Can you just get yourself ready to go so we can go home? I should be done soon, I just need to visit one of my patients quickly, okay?” They finally released each other and Chase gave her a stiff nod, reluctantly agreeing. “I’ll meet you in House’s office in 15, and we’ll go,” Talia compromised, pressing a sweet kiss onto his lips. Chase kissed her back a little blandly and nodded, before clenching his jaw and breezing out of the office again. Talia released an anxious sigh as she watched him for a few more empty moments, before quickly making her way towards Leona’s ward.

…

The glass doors slid open and Talia popped head around to see Leona lying there - with a surprisingly beaming expression on her face. “Dr. Talia!” she gasped, clasping her hands together excitedly. “I was _so_ hoping I’d see you again!”

“You sound… _extremely_ upbeat?” Talia blinked as she entered the room to look at her vitals.

“I am!” Leona confirmed brightly. Strange.

“Well, I’m glad you’re in high spirits, Leona. Has anyone filled you in about…” Talia trailed off awkwardly. But, to her surprise, _again_ \- Leona nodded.

“The cancer? _Yup!_ ”

“And…and…” Talia spluttered, trying to find the words, “…and you’re _not_ upset about the diagnosis?”

“Why should I be? I’ve had enough of life as it is,” Leona muttered with a slightly careless shrug. Talia’s head jerked back in surprise and she took a few steps towards her again.

“So…what, you see this cancer nothing more than a pending death sentence?”

“I _guess_ so. I just…don’t see myself doing much else with my life anymore,” Leona admitted under her breath, staring at her hands. “He took it all from me already. I feel empty - if I die…I die.”

“Well I mean we _all_ die at some point, but if you don’t decide to do chemotherapy,” Talia began delicately, “you have a greater risk-”

“…of it being a painful and unpleasant experience,” Leona finished the sentence for her smoothly. Talia closed her mouth and nodded uncomfortably. “Doctor, if you’re here to convince me to prolong my life by going through something that will make me sick and weak and for a few more living years - you’re _not_ doing a great job.”

“I can see that much,” Talia hummed, putting her case file back down again. She shook out her hair and cocked her head to the side, keeping her eyes trained on her broken patient. “I…I know how you feel, Leona.” Leona turned to glare at her in disgust.

“Here we _go._ You guys are all the same - you pretend to know what I’m going through and then I have to-”

“It starts off sweet, right? He’s sweet to you, says all the things that you wanna hear, promises that he won’t ever hurt you and will always protect you as any good man should,” Talia suddenly spoke robotically as if on script. “Then it starts to get a little weird, just enough for you to raise an eyebrow but not enough for you to get up and go. He starts to control what you wear, who you can hang with, the kind of person that you can be…then he starts to say little things about your appearance that start to grate at you. Then eventually, you have your first big fight - his eyes are blazing, and he says words that jab you in the stomach, and then suddenly he grabs you. Hard. You start to panic, but you’re c-convinced that it’s not that bad because the bruises will fade and he apologises relentlessly, he cries, he swears he’ll never do it again and that he loves you…until…” Talia stopped and tore her eyes from Leona, biting back her tears. At this point, Leona’s face was filled to the brim with horror and she shook her head, completely stunned by her words.

“I…I’m so sorry. I h-h-had no idea that you…you…you know,” she thickly muttered out in embarrassment. Talia shot her a sad smile in response and shrugged it off.

“Don’t apologise. I know how it feels to hear the ‘I know how it is’ when really, they haven’t the slightest clue. It’s _hell_ living with this, right? I was young as well - younger than you, in fact. The fact that I even managed to escape my abuser in the first place was just…a miracle,” she recalled under her breath. She was even more thankful to be on medication now, because otherwise, she’d be seizing.

“Where…where is he now?” Leona asked timidly, her eyes darting around as if he were hiding in the room.

“I don’t know,” Talia sighed heavily. “All I know is that he’s somewhere…breathing. I’ve never felt at peace enough for him to be dead.”

“So…he could still be around? And you’re just… _okay_ with that?”

“I kinda have no choice, Leona. I can’t put my entire life on hold for him. He’d love it if I did. I know it’s hard but honestly - you deserve as much happiness as the next person. Don’t let this guy be the reason that yours is cut short,” Talia murmured, taking Leona’s shaky wired hand in her own. “ _Please_. Do the chemo and we can see how it goes. I lost someone else to cancer today and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Plus, Dr Wilson is the best there is.” Leona chewed the inside of her cheek in quiet contemplation.

“Won’t…won’t all my hair fall out? And I’ll get super skinny and always feel sick?” she mumbled miserably. “I’ve seen the hospital shows-”

“W-well, the side effects from chemotherapy are only a-” Talia started off.

“Dr. Talia, _please,_ ” Leona spoke over her as her eyes welled up with tears. “Just be honest with me. You have thus far.” Talia sighed and dropped her shoulders.

“Yes, there is a chance you’ll experience a number of side effects,” she admitted, still looking her dead in the eye. “But if it means we can extend your life…it should be a risk you’re willing to take, right?”

“Y-yeah. I just…d-don’t wanna lose my hair,” Leona murmured with a miserable sniff.

“To be _fair_ , you were just about ready to lose your _life_ ,” Talia pointed out with a little smirk on her rosy lips. Leona shot her a tired smile back and shrugged, mulling over her words. Then she looked over at Talia for a few seconds and squinted her eyes in thought.

“Did _you_ ever find love again, Doctor?” she asked her curiously, cocking her head to the side. “I mean, after all that… _hell_ you went through?” Talia nibbled her bottom lip and smiled to herself, thinking of the man that she adored just a few doorways away.

“I did,” she confirmed quietly, making Leona smile. “I didn’t think I would but…I did. And he’s wonderful. A gorgeous, golden hearted man with a good heart…also a doctor, and a very good one at that. I got the happiness I deserved eventually. Now please, give yourself the opportunity to get _yours?_ ” Leona stared at her for a few more seconds before nodding.

“Fine.”

_“Thank you,”_ Talia breathed gratefully, giving her hand a comfortingly little squeeze. “I’m gonna refer you to Dr. Wilson and we’ll get you as better as we can. I’ll check up on you often, too. You’re in good hands here, I promise you that.” She gave Leona’s hand another squeeze before bustling out of the room as quickly as she came in, ready to leave with her boyfriend.

But to her surprise, he wasn’t ready to go. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen, in fact - and Talia didn’t like that one bit. “ _Noooo_ don’t do this to me now, Chase,” she murmured to herself as she rushed through the hallways in an attempt to locate him. She started to make her way down the next hallway worriedly - but then noticed two paramedics, Foreman and Chase frantically working on an unconscious redheaded woman with stale blood stained all over her mouth on a stretcher. Chase was cauterising a stomach ulcer and had released a short sigh of relief just as Talia joined them - with _House_ right behind her.

She didn’t look at him, neither did she interact with him. But there was something about what she’d just stumbled upon that made her uneasy, and with Leona still half on her mind, she had no room for doubt.

“What the hell happened here?” she decided to ask Chase, incredibly concerned at the fact that he was even doing this in the first place when he was clearly unstable.

“I took care of it. She was _fine_ two hours ago,” Chase began to fill in both Houses - until the older one interrupted.

“Um…if by _fine_ you mean she had blood spurting out of every hole in her damn body then sure! If you insist, Doc!” House nodded sarcastically as he popped a pill into his mouth. Talia’s eyes widened and she turned her head back to Chase again.

“What, you mean she was here before and now she’s back _again? Already?_ ” she asked Chase in surprise - but was interrupted by the rapid beeping of the BP monitor. “Uhhh… _that’s_ …not good. Chase, where’s that ulcer?”

“I _told_ you, I cauterised it,” Chase told her loudly.

“Just sweep the camera back and show us the whole stomach, smartass,” House ordered him impatiently. So Chase did as he was told…and the ulcer suddenly became clear on the screen beside them.

A _perforated_ one, that is.

“Oh you have _got_ to be- Foreman, help me get her to an OR?!” Talia requested quickly, already beginning to push the stretcher.

“You got it. Help over here!” Foreman shouted for the nurses as he and Talia began to wheel her away. She briefly glanced behind her to see Chase already being berated by House for his sloppy mistake. Now she was kicking herself, because she knew she shouldn’t have told him about his father whilst he was at work.

But she had, so _technically -_ this was her fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda a long one today because i start a new job on monday so if next week's is a little lacklustre, i wanted to make sure i gave you a pre-apology chapter! also, if it wasn't clear, the main storyline will mainly focus on leona (and surrounding 'yet to be revealed' issues), but because i know her storyline is emotionally taxing, i'm balancing it out with key points of the series so you can follow the timeline! not word for word or episode for episode obviously cos hello...COPYRIGHT! but it's just for balance :) anyway, hope you enjoyed x


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